Linda Hamilton may save humanity but can’t save ‘Terminator Dark Fate’
Fans were so excited to hear James Cameron was back influencing a new Terminator film, hiring Deadpool director Tim Miller and bringing back Linda Hamilton as Sarah Connor. While Terminator: Dark Fate is an entertaining and “just” sequel to the first two films, it has bombed at the box office.
As mentioned, Terminator: Dark Fate follows Terminator and Terminator 2, ignoring Terminator 3, Terminator Salvation and Terminator Genisys in the franchise’s mythos. Dark Fate
The new film opens in the wake of Terminator 2: Judgment Day, with Sarah and her son John (a CGI Edward Furlong) enjoying life on a Guatemalan beach year later as a Terminator shows up to assassinate John. As they film shifts to 2020 Mexico City, Grace (Mackenzie Davis) and a Rev-9 Terminator (Gabriel Luna) arrive to battle over Dani Ramos (Natalia Reyes). a key to the human survival in this altered timeline.
As the fight intensifies, the pair are rescued by Sarah Connor and she learns the truth when Grace tells her: “You may have changed the future, but you didn’t change our fate.”
Skynet never came into being in the altered future timeline, but an AI designed for cyberwarfare, dubbed Legion, did. A human resistance formed and Dani will play a key role in that resistance, so naturally Legion wants her dead.
There is an Arnold Terminator, ready to join the fight against the advanced Terminator model.
Miller can’t replicate the thrilling T2 or the innovation of the original Terminator, but manages to create an emotional and entertaining ride which hasn’t been seen in the franchise since Cameron’s aforementioned film.
Sarah connects to Dani because she was first targeted for termination around the same age, destined to give birth to a great hero of the resistance and Hamilton delivers another great gritty Sarah Connor performance. Reyes and Davis are both awesone in their respective roles, and Schwarzenegger once again brings his trademark Terminator gags and commitment to complete his “mission.”
There is no real details about Legion, or its origins, just that the humans are destined to learn on AI to a fault and the great war with machines is inevitable. The formula has grown old and Miller can’t infuse anything reinvigorating to save the film as a whole.
Trust me, this is the BEST Terminator film since T2, but can’t offer enough appeal to warrant further films and the box office drop confirms that will be the case.
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Was thrilled to hear “I will be back” phrase, Sarah Conor did it perfectly. Loved the movie a lot
It was better than I expected and I agree, it was cool to see Linda Hamilton back as Sarah