Time-travel stories are always difficult, especially for a popular franchise like Terminator that has a mind to reinvent itself a little throughout the years (even Avengers Endgame, as much as I adored it, has some plot holes). The last movie in the series, Terminator: Genysis had so many odd twists and unusual choices to the point where some of the film was unintentionally funny. So thankfully, Dark Fate makes an effort to go back to the concept’s roots with a leaner and more simple storyline, but there are still some notable differences.
For one, James Cameron is co-producing and writing the story, but this time it’s Deadpool director Tim Miller sitting in the chair. His version of robot warfare moves at a faster pace than Cameron’s films, as I would have liked a little more screentime devoted to building up Dani Ramos (Natalia Reyes)’s character, just watching her day-to-day affairs working at a Mexico City auto factory with her brother and dad. Her bad day arguing with her boss gets even worse when an advanced Terminator called the Rev-9 (Gabriel Luna) shows up from the future with deadly intentions.
Dani’s saved in the nick of time by Grace (Mackenzie Davis), playing the “Kyle Reese” role. She’s a cybernetically-altered human, which allows her to withstand a little more punishment. This comes in handy given how vicious and relentless the Rev-9 is, but the two also receive some help from Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton), a wandering and grizzled Terminator hunter who tracks down the machines and eliminates them. The three, aided by a mysterious man named “Carl” (Arnold Schwarzenegger) discover more about Dani and their future than they may have realized, and the reason why Sarah is so cold towards Carl initially.
In spite of how Dark Fate is more straightforward than Genysis, you can still expect some heavy shifts for the Terminator canon as a whole, including one moment that comes out of nowhere early and might not sit too well with some long-time franchise fans. Granted, the storyline does try to make sense of it, but even while ignoring the three sequels after 1991 (not to mention the underrated Sarah Connor Chronicles), it’s still pretty game-changing.
The action- and there’s plenty of it- slows down in the middle somewhat to make the plot more clear, but this is mostly a shoot-em-up flick. While the fights are entertaining, it feels a little too polished and CGI-reliant at points. If Joker had too much grittiness for its own good, some of the clashes in Dark Fate would have been perfect had they felt a little rougher.
Most of the performances in Dark Fate are good, or pretty solid at worst. Reyes as Dani is very convincing as she turns from victim to badass, and she’s especially inspiring when we discover what she means to the future and Grace in particular. Davis is very easy to get behind as they go into her background a little, too. Hamilton as Connor is definitely the heart of this movie- she hasn’t lost a step and is just as compelling and cool as she was in Judgement Day, and her character has good reason to have a chip on her shoulder.
Luna’s presence as the Rev-9 is bone-chilling at points, which is why it’s a shame he isn’t given more of a slow-burn the way Arnold’s T-800 was as he terrorized Los Angeles searching for Sarah in the first film. There is a bit of calm-down time as the movie establishes Carl’s significance, and while the Terminator isn’t a role that allows for too much range, Arnold is good enough to convincingly make his new role pretty sympathetic.
Let me be real: this movie doesn’t top the first two in any way, and that might be impossible at this point- you can’t recapture the same exact lightning bolt, it’ll always come out differently. But Terminator: Dark Fate at least understands the core elements that have made the franchise so engaging, even if it could have paced itself better to highlight those aspects.
One problem I had was how Legion, the threat behind the Rev-9 in place of Skynet, could have been made a little more different and expanded upon more. Why did the military make this thing, how does it differ from Skynet? That could have been made clearer. I am glad the movie knows why we loved the first two entries, but I’m still open to seeing different writers’ take on Terminator and the ways in which they can make the series feel exciting. As silly as Genysis, Rise of the Machines and Salvation got, I still appreciate what they were attempting.
Regardless, it’s certainly a movie that does little-to-no harm to the IP. There’s a lot to enjoy about it thanks to some very well-crafted action scenes (as unrealistic as they are) and some great performances from the newcomers, Arnold and Linda. If you’ve headed to a theater and had a chance to see, it, stop by @Official_FAN on Twitter and let us know your thoughts!