In 1984, young up-and-coming filmmaker James Cameron wowed audiences and impressed critics with his sci-fi action film, The Terminator. On a budget of roughly $6 million, the film grossed over $78 million worldwide, propelling Cameron to superstardom. Seven years later, Cameron followed it up with the even bigger and revolutionary sequel, Terminator 2: Judgement Day. Not only was it considered superior to the original by critics, but the film grossed over $500 million worldwide. Unfortunately, due to rights issues, a new entry wouldn’t see a release until 2003’s Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines. Six years later, Terminator: Salvation was released with the intent of starting a new trilogy, but plans fell through. Another six years later, Terminator: Genisys was intended to reboot the franchise, but failed despite doing reasonably well financially. Cut to three years later, where Cameron has reacquired the rights, and we now have Terminator: Dark Fate.
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Several years after Terminator 2, a new, more advanced Terminator, the Rev-9 (Gabriel Luna), has been sent back in time. At the same time, an augmented human soldier named Grace (Mackenzie Davis) has also been sent back. Both have arrived at Mexico City looking for a young woman named Daniella “Dani” Ramos (Natalia Reyes). Grace has been sent back to protect her from the Rev-9 for reasons that are made clearer later on. While being pursued by the Rev-9, Grace and Dani are saved by the unexpected appearance of Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton). Though reluctant at first, both Dani and Grace agree to let Sarah accompany them to fight off the Rev-9. Along the way, they meet up with a much older T-800 Terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger), who’s taken on a new identity. With the seemingly indestructible Rev-9 in pursuit, the fate of the future rests on their shoulders.
Unfortunately, that’s all I can say about the plot without going into spoilers, and there are plenty of those. When I first heard about Terminator: Dark Fate, I was naturally skeptical but still optimistic due to the people involved. To get into the positives first, the cast all does a great job, for the most part. Linda Hamilton is wonderful in her return as Sarah Connor, reminding us of how awesome she was and still is. Plus, it’s always great seeing Arnold Schwarzenegger back, especially since he’s given some of the best lines here. Newcomers Mackenzie Davis and Natalia Reyes, though playing largely one-note characters, still fit their roles well, Davis especially. While not as good as Robert Patrick’s T-1000 in Terminator 2, Gabriel Luna still captures that intensity as the Rev-9. Tim Miller of Deadpool fame does great work behind the camera and stages some awesome action sequences.
However, what ultimately bogs down Terminator: Dark Fate is the story and some plot choices that are made here. Much like Terminator 3 and Terminator: Genisys, this film more or less borrows the same plot as Terminator 2. Like before, two people are sent to the future, one to protect someone, the other to kill that same person. Even though Terminator: Salvation didn’t work as a whole, it at least tried something different, and I can respect that. Like I said before, I can’t go into too much plot detail without spoilers, but suffice to say, it’s problematic. The choices that are made somewhat invalidate what the previous films established and seem to only justify this film’s existence. While it’s not a bad film, Terminator: Dark Fate will upset some longtime fans of the franchise. Overall, Terminator: Dark Fate is in some ways better and worse than previous entries.
