Terminator: Dark\nFate is one the most interesting movies to ever come out of Hollywood. For a\nfranchise that\u2019s been world renowned for decades, its left large swathes of its\nfans wanting since 2003 when Rise of the Machines tried to top T2. You count\nthat movie, a TV show who fizzled out on its promise, Salvation (a movie so\nforgettable I actually had to Google its name), and Genisys and you\u2019re left\nwondering why someone would even bother. Every writer to step into the batter\u2019s\nbox has gone down swinging, some laughably so. What could another attempt at a\nstory about robots from the future do to undo so many missteps?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Well\u2026 Apparently it\ncould just, you know, undo them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dark Fate does\nsomething a movie seldom gets the opportunity to do; wholesale ignore subpar\npast entries. Much like Skynet, the Terminator saga has now become self-aware\nand concedes that everything after T2 should be swiped off the storyboard.\nWhile there had to have been a sense of relief in jettisoning some of the less\nfavored iterations of Terminator, the freedom creates something of a do or die\nscenario.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Let\u2019s just call this\nmovie what it is. Terminator: Dark Fate is the last hope this franchise has at\na path forward. If this movie bombs, you probably won\u2019t be seeing another one\nfor a very, very long time. In a poetic stroke of irony, it\u2019s not the future\nDark Fate is running from but rather the past. Thankfully, with its lean\nscript, efficient pacing, enjoyable action this movie is up to the task.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dark Fate is a\nwell-crafted story that delivers a better experience than I\u2019m sure most would\nanticipate. Right out of the gate, you\u2019re given a sense of where this movie\npicks up in the overall narrative, a hint of how far they\u2019re willing to go with\nits gritty violence, and an effective emotional anchor that serves as the\nbackbone to the entire story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Linda Hamilton does\na phenomenal job of portraying both a hardened veteran who\u2019s seen it all and a\nperson still struggling with the emotional turmoil of their past. She managed\nto show that no matter how grizzled the outside was, within still beat the heart\nof a very relatable human. Giving her a lot to play off of, Arnold\u2019s\nperformance here is nuanced, stoic, and carries philosophical depth that\nexplores a machine\u2019s ability to feel. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
When I first saw\nDark Fate\u2019s initial trailer, I was worried about Gabriel Luna\u2019s ability to play\nthe part of a menacing death robot from the future. Having now seen the movie,\nI\u2019m still trying to decide if my initial worries came true in the final cut or\nif he brought an unusual measure of subtlety to his portrayal. Although I was\nnever completely sold on the threat his presence in front of the camera posed,\nhe fared much better in the scenes where he blended in and interacted with\nhumans. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mackenzie Davis and\nNatalia Reyes are new names to me, but I was very impressed with their\nrespective performances. I feel it would take a second viewing to really\nappreciate the arcs of their characters, but Natalia\u2019s Dani in particular felt\nlike a real person caught up in tragic and extraordinary circumstances. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
A bone I\u2019ve long had\nto pick with the Terminator franchise was its attempt at hand to hand combat.\nI\u2019m not sure who thought seeing robots grab people by the shoulders and slam\nthem into things made for great entertainment, but I would not be mad to never\nsee that or someone getting flimsily tossed instead of something more effective\nagain. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some of the opening\naction sequences specifically let me know I was in for a much better time on\nthe action front. The choreography felt crisp, visceral, and blended with solid\nspecial effects and sound to convince me we were seeing combatants actively trying\nto kill their adversaries. One of the coolest things was seeing that new style\nmesh with the old. The T-800\u2019s contribution felt stiff, robotic, and fresh out\nof T2 while Grace and the Rev-9 approached fighting with modern flair. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The movie was far\nfrom perfect, and there were a few instances where I felt the plot faltered.\nI\u2019d count them as largely forgivable however, as their smoothing out would\nrequire more attention than the movie\u2019s runtime could afford. That efficiency\nalso cuts out too much world building, with next to nothing stated about the\nmain antagonist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Even without giving the plot away, the movie\u2019s objectives were pretty clear. Both you and it know what it needs to deliver, and for the most part I\u2019d say Dark Fate was successful. Future robots. Daring chases. Stuff exploding. Things. Excitement. But it was wrapped in a package that I feel gave due fan service to the franchise\u2019s loyal followers. The movie was wise to do little more than hit all of the requisite checkboxes, using mild subversion sparingly while staying within the expected lines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One\nthing that I think will make people enjoy or despise this movie is the fact\nthat the movie is an action movie. The original Terminator movie was a\nsignificantly more intimate affair, trending towards suspense and horror.\nThat\u2019s absent here. Perhaps this is an extension of my uncertainty about the\nRev-9\u2019s level of intimidation. The T-800 felt killable by conventional means.\nThis modern take couldn\u2019t be killed by anything I\u2019d be able to find, so I\u2019m not\nable to connect to the scenes in that way. If you expected that you will be\ndisappointed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I think Terminator:\nDark Fate does a great job at being a standalone worthwhile action movie and\nalso taking the overall story in a new direction. I worry that past entries may\nhave sunk this outing\u2019s battleship before it\u2019s set sail. I certainly walked into\nthe theater with my skepticism equipped and at the ready. I came out wanting\nto, and perhaps even excited to see, a follow-up, which is a heck of a lot more\nthan I can say for anything else past T2. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
If we\u2019re throwing a\nnumber at this thing I\u2019d say it was a 7 out of 10. Maybe 7.5. <\/p>\n<\/body>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Terminator: Dark Fate is one the most interesting movies to ever come out of Hollywood. For a franchise that\u2019s been world renowned for decades, its left large swathes of its fans wanting since 2003 when Rise of the Machines tried to top T2. You count that movie, a TV show who fizzled out on its … Continue reading Terminator: Dark Fate Non-Spoiler Review<\/span>