THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
Hope was lost for another Terminator film to be good after three films in a row fail to have the same spark that the first two have. However, we finally got something that is pretty close to it in comparison. Terminator: Dark Fate shows an alternate timeline that retcons the three films that were released after Judgment Day, taking place after the 1991 classic. The film begins in 1998, where a Terminator succeeds in killing John Connor. Forwarding to 2020, two beings from 2042 appear to go after Daniella Ramos, who is the new threat to the future of the machines. A Rev-9 terminator, with an Endoskeleton and liquid metal exterior, is sent to assassinate her. She is protected by an ‘augmented’ human soldier named Grace. Both characters encounter Dani and her brother Diego (Diego Boneta), but Grace is able to get to her first, keeping her alive. The Rev-9 pursues them all the way to a highway, killing Diego in the process. Sarah Connor appears, but is only able to slow it down. This gives time for the other two women to escape. When they meet her again, she explains that she found them because she’s been receiving encrypted messages that detail locations of other terminators, ending with the phrase, ‘For John’. Before Grace traces the messages back to Texas, she explains that in her future, it is not Skynet but another AI dubbed ‘Legion’ that is responsible for Judgment Day. They cross the Mexican border to get to Texas, barely evading the Rev-9. When arriving at the location of the source, they discover that it’s the same T-800 that killed John. After completing its mission, it gained a conscious, donned the name ‘Carl’ and adopted a human family. Carl has been contacting Sarah this whole time because it wanted to give her purpose, having regret of its actions. She is able to put aside her grudge to align with it to prepare for their new foe. They seek an EMP to ambush the Rev-9 and when they receive it from an acquaintance of Sarah, the machine catches up again, leading them to escape with a stolen C-5 Galaxy as the EMPs are now destroyed. Before it returns, Grace reveals that Dani will be the future Resistance leader, rather than conceive the next leader. In Sarah’s eyes, she is the new John. When the Rev-9 returns again, it boards the plane and causes it to crash. Luckily, our group of protagonists survive the fall as they land near a hydro power plant. At the plant, they fight it one more time. Carl and Grace force it into a spinning turbine, causing an explosion that damages both terminators and wounds Grace. She then makes Dani take her own power source to destroy the Rev-9. With the aid of Carl, she is able to stab it with the said source. The T-800 then drags itself and the Rev-9 over a ledge and die as the core explodes. Before death, Carl says to Sarah for the last time ‘For John’. It ends within days later as Sarah and Dani must prepare for the apocalypse and become the leader that the latter is supposed to be. When first watching this film in 2019, I am relieved to say that I enjoyed this film. With James Cameron returning as a producer, the spark that made the first two Terminator movies so entertaining had returned. Every moment that transpired, I was just as invested as I was when first watching these movies as a kid. The action in this sequel is on point as I couldn’t take my eyes off of it, as every chase easily becomes a highlight. The visuals are fairly intriguing and will likely hold up for a long while. In particular, the opening where we see the de-aged characters is incredible as it pays off unlike other movies that use this take on visuals. What makes this film entertaining because it feels the most organized in comparison to the three prior sequels, which helps the investment. Despite that this is a step up for the series, there were still some flaws that made me scratch my head. First off, if Grace was gonna steal clothes that fit her, why didn’t she compare sizes with the unconscious cops before taking clothes from the bystander? It is funny, but unnecessary. Legion messes up big time not sending the Rev-9 to Dani’s house an hour before she left. It could’ve killed her while she was sleeping. I know they need the power source to kill the new terminator but it was out of character for Sarah to not continue to finish it off rather than get distracted of her vehicle getting stolen. If she really wanted to get off the grid, she should’ve got rid of her phone like when she threw Dani’s but that is just an excuse to make contact with the guy who has an EMP, which’ll slow down the Rev-9. With that guy in mind, I’m stuck wondering that she did to get such strong trust in order to get an EMP from him? I’d like some exposition on that. There’s even a continuity error where in one shot, Grace’s beer bottle has a lime in it but here is another shot where it doesn’t. I know that sounds nit-picky but that really bothered me when rewatching it. Lastly, they should’ve kept the deleted scene Sarah has with Carl’s spouse Alicia. It would’ve been a clever depth for both supporting characters. Once you ignore all of this, you’ll definitely be still enjoying this Terminator film. Going back to the goods, the last selling point is the array of characters, mixed with old and new. Natalie Reyes carries a lot of weight as the new lead and arguably delivers. She may not be seen as a leader but that is mainly because of her youth and inexperience, not gender or ethnicity. As her experience grows, so does her leadership. I honestly don’t want another Terminator film because it will become more repetitive than it already is. But if it still happens, despite not being successful at the box office, the focus has to be on how Dani continues to grow as a leader. For Mackenzie Davis’ Grace, she is clearly the Kyle Reese in the story because she is the protector to her idol. Seeing her augmented, makes her a badass of her own as she can hang in combat against a Terminator. Her death was a bummer mainly because she knew it would happen so it hurts as she tells Dani to take the power source from her body. Also, seeing her flashback before her augmentation was pretty cool to see as it had a striking resemblance to 2009’s Salvation. Gabriel Luna succeeded in bringing fear and intimidation with the Rev-9, which is exactly how the T-1000 was in Judgment Day. The return of Linda Hamilton as Sarah Connor is what makes the movie for me. In this outing, she brings back the character’s determination but also embraces pain and grief inside, while still being a warrior on the outside. She has broken for sometime and you see it in her eyes, besides the opening. It was great to see the character again not just because it was a mistake to kill her off in 2003’s Rise of the Machines, but because she is the ideal female icon. And if you’re gonna have new female leads, she had to be there. Another reason to be open minded for a sequel to this film is mainly to see how she’ll grow as a mentor to Dani. Lastly, Arnold Schwarzenegger gives another interesting perspective as the T-800. With Carl, he definitely brings more energy and charm in comparison to what he had in Rise of the Machines and 2015’s Genysis combined, making the performance more convincing. We like Carl because we accept his regret and are moved that he has a conscious. So when it dies, you feel a mourning similar to Uncle Bob in T2. What I get out of the protagonists this time is that while bad things can be bound to happen, that does not exactly mean that there won’t be any good as well. So even if there will be an apocalypse, there will always be someone to take a stand. Overall, Director Tim Miller provided a return to form to the Terminator franchise with Dark Fate, providing solid action, great visuals, an organized story and investing characters. If you still love the first two Terminator films, this will satisfy you.
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