Terminator Dark Fate is the 2019 “retcon” sequel to T2. It virtually ignores part 3 & beyond. The movie picks up following the events of Terminator 2. Sarah Connor and her son have just defeated Skynet and are pretty much on the road to starting a new life together.
It is right here that I will stop with the synopsis because I want this review to be almost spoiler-free. Also I want to point out that I did in fact cover this movie before I saw Doctor Sleep but since that was a YouTube post, I decided to upload that then this one.
The key word being almost. When you deal with time-travel movies, you’re gonna have plot holes and of course some spoilers.
Terminator Dark Fate is a fairly enjoyable action movie. Despite my divided reaction to its release, I had no real qualms with it. However to date is not the best of the franchise, although not for lack of trying. In my opinion, it’s not any different than any other Terminator movie. At least Salvation, with it’s flaws actually succeeded in thinking outside of the “Travel To The Past Box”. Even Genysis with all its flaws had a good attempt at a good idea but Dark Fate stays relatively safe with the only differences are the reveal at the end and the upgraded “Terminator” who hunts our protagonists.
The basic plot involves a machine coming back from the future to hunt an unsuspecting would-be victim. This new sparkly adversary advanced Terminator, called the Rev-9 is played by Gabriel Luna who I particularly loves as Ghost Rider/Robbie Reyes on Agents of SHIELD. Luna was actually a great addition to this particular role. For 1 he isn’t a white male and this particular cyborg was virtually indistinguishable from your typical robot/cyborg. Had I been anyone in this movie, he would had not troubles infiltrating me at all. And I’m not saying that as a creep because he’s easy on the eyes.
Also sent back from the future is Grace, an enhanced super human, played by Mackenzie Davis. Her task is to protect said would-be victim. Davis is a ripped bad ass and before I saw it, I told myself I would not compare her to Hamilton’s Connor from T2 but she holds her own. Her character is different than Connor and not just her “enhancements” She’s almost like a female version of the flick Upgrade.
That leaves our damsel in distress, Dani played by Natalia Reyes.
In so many words she is the new Sarah Connor, to which the real Connor says to her in one scene. She, however turns into a final girl real fast and her role in this universe of cyborgs and a dystopian future is eventually revealed. I also got some crushing vibes from Grace but it was never fleshed out and I think that it would have taken away from the movie anyway.
James Cameron returned but as producer. We also have Arnold Schwarzenegger & Linda Hamilton reprising their roles as The T-800 Terminator & Sarah Connor respectively. This reunion in my head was a big reason why this movie made bank but they put too much weight on it so much that if you didn’t know any better you would miss out on the other goodies in this film. But don’t let that fool you… it’s a big cash grab.
Dark Fate has its highs and lows but overall it’s a good action flick with some dope fighting scenes that were well choregraphed. The CGI isn’t cheap looking and for a run time of about 2 hours, you get a decent bang for your buck.
Arnie as the T-800 is just as great as he was in T2 but with a little more humor that only a man playing a cyborg that has been humanized can deliver. He sells drapes and he’s a married step-dad so you can tell that his scenes were hilarious. Hamilton’s portrayal of Connor was also great. Her transition from the waitress in T1 to the badass in T2 to a much older badass who has been through hell and back was spot on.
Seeing Connor and the T-800 back on screen was a well needed dose of nostalgia that gladly got that Genysis shit out of my head. No disrespect to Emilia Clarke who I absolutely love, but she just didn’t do it for me on some scenes. This role is and always be made for Hamilton. Clarke is just oo much of a sweetie to me. You look at her and think innocent doll baby.
Overall I give Dark Fate 1 out of 2 thumbs up. It’s plot although not poorly written has more plot holes than this film has bullet holes. Yet it gave me a good dose of nostalgia that wasn’t ultimately cheap feeling.
What did you think about it?
What did you think about it?
Until Next Time Kiddies,
Shalom
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