Terminator: Dark Fate (2019)

 

Chances are I'm going for an unpopular opinion: I like this one. I really do. I like it roughly on the same level as 'Terminator: Salvation', which means they are below 1 & 2, but way above the rest. Even though a lot of critics and roughly three quarters of the Internet despised this one. Can't win them all, I guess.

This directly follows the events of T2, thus ignoring everything that came after it. That might seem a bit strange and is undoubtedly also something to do with marketing strategies, as most sequels after T2 were received with mixed feelings and - let's be honest - the results weren't always up to scratch. The T-800 slowly became a figure of comedy and the sense of dread was long gone. They try to get it back here, but if this film lacks one thing, it's suspense. This could stem from the fact that most people now know what to expect, but it still is a shame. The action is okay though, and the characters are a lot more engaging than in previous outings. 

The film opens with a hardcore gut punch: a T-800 flat out kills a young John Connor, shotgun at point blank range. 

Now there's a way to kick off a film.

Then the focus shifts to a young woman called Dani. See, even though John Connor is now dead and the entire timeline for Skynet has been erased, in the future humanity still finds a way to screw itself over with an AI that wants us dead. Seems convoluted? I'm not so sure. As a race, we like to invoke our own doom, so in all fairness: this seems curiously logical. This time around, the AI is called Legion. 

Yes, that is a weak ass name. It's true.

Once more, the resistance sends a warrior back in time. It is a young woman, Grace, who has been augmented, meaning she is also a cyborg, only more human. She does suffer from energy losses and needs to keep herself balanced with medication. Again, this makes sense, as superhuman efforts will take their toll on the body, something that machines will have a better time with. The evil terminator is called a Rev-9. It is a sleek design, unassuming and judging from its interactions with people a lot better at blending in. See, the difference between Grace and the Rev-9 is kept small on purpose, so you could ask when you stop being human. It's an old Japanese story device and the idea is cool, only they don't utilize it to its fullest extent. A bit of a shame, really. The Rev-9 can also split into its endoskeleton and a sort of liquid metal shape. You get where they are coming from (it's a lot like the TX, actually), this doesn't add all that much to the story, but in keeping things different from the classic terminators you can understand where they found the idea. Gabriel Luna does a good job as the Rev-9, but there isn't that much tension. 

The return of Linda Hamilton and Arnold Schwarzenegger is cool, though. Hamilton is now a permanently angry lady with a beef and she can be a little grating the way she was written, but when you have spent your entire life trying to keep yourself and your son safe and then it turns out it was all for nothing, wouldn't you turn into a constantly angry person? I get where she's coming from. Could they have done more with her character? Yes. Is it fun to see her come back and kick probably most ass of anyone in this film? Also yes. 

Arnold is the T-800 that shot John at the start, only without a new directive, he has grown more and more human through the years. Terminators learn and adapt, so this isn't too much of a stretch. He is now called Carl and even has a family. Sure, the draperies-thing is just there for comedic value and wasn't needed, but you can't have it all. He is once again a lot more understated and more akin to the classic role whereas in 'Genisys' he was just played for laughs and it failed. 

Maybe the problem of this film is that it doesn't do anything radically different and most people expected something along those lines. But the action scenes are fun (the car chase early on is great), Gabriel Luna moves like a genuine robot bent on destruction (even though some of the CG jumping around shots look weird and weightless) and Mackenzie Davis is great as Grace. Heck, you almost forget that Natalia Reyes as Dani is supposed to be the main character. Couple that with the return of Linda Hamilton and Schwarzenegger who will always be lovable and this one is a lot better than it gets credit for. 

And let's be brutally honest: considering how classic the first 2 films were, was there ever any chance any sequel would live up to their impossible standards? 

The answer is: not in a million years.