Terminator: Dark Fate (2019) Paramount/Sci-Fi-Action RT: 128 minutes Rated R (violence throughout, language, brief nudity) Director: Tim Miller Screenplay: David S. Goyer, Justin Rhodes and Billy Ray Music: Tom Holkenborg Cinematography: Ken Seng Release date: November 1, 2019 (US) Cast: Linda Hamilton, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Mackenzie Davis, Natalia Reyes, Gabriel Luna, Diego Boneta, Alicia Borrachero, Enrique Arce. Box Office: $62.3M (US)/$261.1M (World)
Rating: ** ½
One of the greatest moviegoing experiences of my life was seeing The Terminator for the first time. I was absolutely blown away by it on every level imaginable. Made on a budget of just over $6 million, it was pure magic with its non-stop action, fast pace, great practical effects, cool dialogue, brilliant direction by James Cameron and star-making performance from Arnold Schwarzenegger as the unstoppable killing machine of the title. I thought back to this day in October ’84 as I took my seat to watch Terminator: Dark Fate, the sixth installment in the series. My feeling of nostalgia was tempered by cautious optimism, a quality gained by years of experience with disappointing sequels.
At initial glance, Terminator: Dark Fate has a few good things going for it. Unlike the two previous entries, it’s rated R. This is good because, like RoboCop, Terminator is NOT PG-13 material. Linda Hamilton is back as stalwart heroine Sarah Connor for the first time since T2. Cameron is also back on board (as producer and story co-writer). It’s directed by Tim Miller who did a hell of a job with the first Deadpool movie. Also, it’s a direct sequel to T2. It disregards the last three movies and picks up where the 1991 blockbuster left off. Terminator: Dark Fate has all the markings of a potentially great flick. Sadly, it’s not. It’s the best Terminator movie since T2, but that’s not exactly high praise.
Once again, the story centers on a young woman important to the Human Resistance in the war against the machines in the future. You see, Sarah may have stopped Skynet from creating the technology that would ultimately bring about humanity’s downfall, but she didn’t change the fate of mankind. We’re still doomed; an AI outfit called “Legion” is responsible this time. Dani (Reyes, Birds of Passage) plays a crucial role in the future Resistance which means that she is targeted for termination and must be protected. Her protector is Grace (Davis, Blade Runner 2049), an cybernetically enhanced soldier determined to fulfill her mission which entails going up against a Rev-9 (Luna, Agents of SHIELD), a super-advanced Terminator with the ability to separate into two separate, autonomous units. Twice the killing power, twice the fun.
After rescuing Dani from a termination attempt by Rev-9 at a Mexico City auto plant, Grace tries to get to safety only to be pursued relentlessly by their foe. Thankfully, Sarah arrives in the nick of time to save their lives by temporarily disabling Rev-9 with a grenade and familiar one-liner (“I’ll be back.”). How she knows the when and where of the action, I won’t say. Rest assured it is explained eventually. ANYWAY, Sarah has become a hardened, embittered Terminator slayer in the 22 years since she (temporarily) saved the world. She doesn’t trust Grace at first, but knows that they must team up if they’re to keep Dani alive to fulfill her destiny. They get some help from “Carl” (Schwarzenegger), an aging T-800 model Terminator still around after all these years. In that time, he’s learned to be more human. Even so, Sarah isn’t thrilled by his presence. She has deeply personal reasons for hating all Terminators.
Terminator: Dark Fate starts off pretty good with the arrival of Grace and Rev-9, the introduction of Dani, the rescue and subsequent highway car chase and the timely arrival of Hamilton’s character. For a while, it chugs along pretty well with a late night Mexican border crossing, an escape from an immigrant detainment facility and Schwarzenegger joining the fight. Unfortunately, this is where it starts to fall apart. Around the time the fight took to the air, it hit me how far removed from the first movie the series has become. Forget for a moment how scarily easy it is to steal military aircraft in this universe. Let’s focus on what’s going on up there. One character hangs from the outside of the plane while the others engage in zero gravity combat. It’s dumb and way too much. The movie never recovers from this huge misstep.
The main reason T2 is so good is its special effects which were quite innovative in ’91. CGI wasn’t widely used in movies at that time. Audiences were in awe of it, especially the liquid metal effects used to bring the T-1000 to cinematic life. It ultimately won an Oscar for Best Visual Effects. Jump ahead to 2019 and Terminator: Dark Fate. This movie suffers from a serious case of CGI overload. Not only that, none of it is anything new. Take the Rev-9. He can turn his limbs into weapons. He can assume the physical form of anybody he touches. When blown apart, he can fix himself. When exposed to flames, he melts into puddles of black goo that come together to form his original shape. The color is the only thing that differentiates the Rev-9 from the T-1000. All the rest is been there-done that. As hard as he tries, Luna is no competition for Robert Patrick. The T-1000 player is definitely the scarier villain.
While I admire Terminator: Dark Fate for putting its female heroes front and center, it’s one of the movie’s most disappointing aspects. It’s great seeing Hamilton back in action, no question about it. At 63, she’s still pretty bad ass. Her performance, however, is another story. For the most part, she appears bored and disinterested. I think we’re supposed to take it as angry and world-weary on the part of her character but that’s not my take-away. Davis and Reyes are okay but unmemorable. Sure, they’re tough gals but they lack distinctive personalities. Schwarzenegger adds some life as “Carl” whose life has taken some very interesting turns since…. I won’t say.
There are some good action scenes in Terminator: Dark Fate. The fight in the auto plant, in particular, is well choreographed. It’s an entertaining action flick, but enough is enough already. The Terminator series is long past its expiration date. It’s time to terminate the franchise. At one point, Schwarzenegger’s character says “I won’t be back.” Can we have that in writing?
