Terminator: Dark Fate

I went into this blind because a friend wanted to see it, hadn't read any reviews, no bias... Unfortunately, it's not good.

There is a lot of action and it's done pretty well, but the problem is that the story is just a rehash of T2, but done worse. It's extremely predictable and towards the end just doesn't make sense (with obvious plot holes and deus ex machina). Action without any reason for it to be interesting is just boring!

I didn't really have any problem with the acting as I see some people do and it wasn't exactly painful to sit through it, but that was really all it was, sit through it and wait for it to be over.

Arnie saves this, Seen it a few times, skip till when Arnie comes in the movie. He has a great subtle wit about him. This kind of humour would be great to see him do more of.

I'll be honest, Dark Fate is more mediocre than unwatchable, probably the best Terminator since T2... yeah, I know, the bar is so low, it's like limbo dancing at this point. This feels similar to The Force Awakens: in itself a slick, decent movie, but I've already watched the much better original, so thanks but no thanks.

Positives? Mackenzie Davis, for whom I've had a hopeless crush since seeing her as a cute NASA geek in The Martian (and then again in Blade Runner 2049), plays a relatable, compelling character, with an intriguing mix of power and vulnerability. There are also a couple of neat set-pieces, especially in the first half, before everything becomes over-the-top tiresome.

Linda Hamilton and Arnold show up for fanservice. It's kind of nice to see them both back with significant roles but, as is typical of fanservice, it's like gorging on too much chocolate: tastes good at first, but then come nausea and a vague feeling of shame.

My main point is, the Terminator series is now hopeless, as the last movies, especially Genisys, have poisoned the well. The continuity is a mess and keeps being rebooted, so everything is pointless: no development can feel meaningful. Show of hands: who would be particularly surprised if the next Terminator movie was once again about John Connor leading the Resistance in another alternate continuity? No one? Thought so.

Also, the new villain being so talkative was possibly the single stupidest idea in the whole project. You know why Arnold in T1 and Robert Patrick in T2 were so terrifying? Because they shut up! They said very little and, the few times they spoke, it always felt like something they did out of pure necessity (probing for informations, setting up a trap) but was fundamentally alien to their nature.

This Rev-9 tries to talk its antagonists out of fighting him! Can anyone picture the T-1000 reasoning with its targets? The great Robert Patrick studied and imitated the body language of birds of prey to look creepier and inhuman, and the new bad guy wants to chat. Give me a break.

5/10

In its core its a rehash of everything we have seen before only worse. As many said before some characters are almost a parody of their former selfs. The writers wanted to mess with the viewers expectations. So they also included a couple of surprises that no one asked for. They even succeeded in gender swapping a key character which happens a lot in movies theses days. And of course lots of stupid jokes. The action seems to be all CGI so nothing really exiting happening. I hope they won't do another one. Its depressing to see a franchise getting destroyed this way.

It's not. Atleast not the one I ever wanted.

It's barely any better than the other failed sequels that have come since 1991. I might actually prefer some of the others, as much as I disliked them at the time.

Looking at it objectively, it's not an awful movie. But they built it up so much with the return of Cameron and saying it was a 'return to form' etc that I think the disappointment has hit twofold. It is a very, very average film.

I'm conscious of some 'gender politics' attached to this movie, or how it's perceived. Please understand that I was fully okay with having three female leads. Terminator has been the tale of 'the mother of the future' all along after all. Let's be clear that it was just a fairly poor film, regardless of gender.

There are still only two films as far as I'm concerned - T1 & T2. If you want the real follow up, get hold of copies of the comics 'T2: Cybernetic Dawn' and 'T2: Nuclear Twilight.' (Read them in that order). They wrapped up the story tidily and respectfully. This film achieved neither of those things.