Terminator: Dark Fate Image

Terminator: Dark Fate

By Alex Saveliev | November 1, 2019

When Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Terminator first informed a police desk sergeant that he would “be back,” little did the sergeant – along with the rest of us – know that he meant “over and over again, in countless sequels and prequels.” It would take a sleuth with Holmes-like skills to figure out how all the timelines fit within the overarching Terminator narrative. The saga’s downfall began with Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (which, in my opinion, is still the truest to Cameron’s original two classics), escalated with the meandering Terminator: Salvation, and culminated with the horrendous Terminator: Genisys.

Now VFX-artist-turned-director Tim Miller (the man behind Deadpool) teams up with the “original crew” – James Cameron (who produces and gets a “story by” credit), Linda Hamilton (who reprises her role as Sarah Connor) and Arny in a fleshed-out role (as opposed to pixelated cameos) – in an attempt to resuscitate the fledgling franchise with Terminator: Dark Fate. Do they succeed? Not even close. While the film has its share of thrilling set-pieces and nostalgic throwback moments, it ultimately treads overly familiar territory, with a screenplay as clunky as a skinned, half-demolished T-800.

“…a cyborg human from the future, tasked with protecting… Dani from Rev-9, a new-and-improved liquid (!) Terminator…”

The somewhat-complex story takes place after the events of Terminator 2: Judgement Day. Forget Salvation and Genisys ever happened (shouldn’t be too difficult). Mackenzie Davis plays Grace, a cyborg human from the future, tasked with protecting a young Mexican woman, Dani (Natalia Reyes), from Rev-9 (Gabriel Luna), a new-and-improved liquid (!) Terminator. Unbeknownst to Dani, in a few years, she will become crucial in leading the resistance against the machines. So yeah, forget Skynet (this may prove to be a tad more difficult).

Just when Grace and Dani realize they may not be up to the challenge, in comes Sarah Connor with a machinegun (make that several). With Rev-9 on their a***s, they embark on a journey to Texas, to seek help from you-know-who, who now lives in a woodsy cabin with a family, and is known as… Carl. Complicating matters, there’s a dark history between Carl and Sarah, making her hell-bent on killing the humanized robot. Yet they have to put their differences aside and save Dani first, in an ultimate showdown.

Terminator: Dark Fate (2019)

Directed: Tim Miller

Written: David S. Goyer, Billy Ray, Justin Rhodes

Starring: Linda Hamilton, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Mackenzie Davis, Natalia Reyes, Gabriel Luna, etc.

Movie score: 5/10

Terminator: Dark Fate Image

"…a screenplay as clunky as a skinned, half-demolished T-800"

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  1. Ashka says:

    I really don’t know, when critics become so senseless??? It is absolutely nothing wrong with this movie it is rather decent reset of Terminator. You don’t have to really describe all movie to prove to have any opinion whatsoever. I ve seen a lot of crab recently praised by the critics, yes it is a blockbuster but all three leading ladies are just wonderful. The movie has an unexpected warm to it. It is really great entertainment. Arni really makes me smile. It is money well spent. Story is different but we have 2019 not 1984 or 1991, who said that they have to follow everything.The story wasn’t clunky where is that come from again??? It was really believable and the scenes on the Mexican border in the detention centre…. Is it our reality? That was actually very interesting part. Dull?? What are you expecting, some kind of psychological, very deep meaning? It was deep enough for this type of blockbuster.
    I really wish to our film critics to become less cynical!

    • Peter says:

      I saw a bunch of favourable reviews by the critics on IMDb, but it was the viewer reviews that aren’t as favourable!

      (I still want to see it)

      Peter

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