The Terminator series is one of those franchises which never quite lived up to their glory days, like The Predator or Jurassic Park. People have tried almost everything with the franchise: trying to recapture T2: Judgement Day’s action movie dynamic, bringing the apocalypse and taking the story to the future, and wiping the slate clean. Terminator: Dark Fate reboots the franchise again, to mostly okay results.
Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) managed to stop Judgement Day, but a stray Terminator finally caught up with her and killed her son John in front of her eyes. Twenty one years later, a newer (and deadlier) Terminator (called Rev 9, played by Gabriel Luna) is on the chase after a new target, Dani Ramos (Natalia Reyes), and the human resistance has sent another protector, Grace (Mackenzie Davis) to fend him off. Soon, Sarah learns that a new AI, Legion, rises up in the future and attacks humanity. As the unstoppable Rev-9 chases them across Mexico and the US, the group tries to come up with a plan to stop him.
Tim Miller (Deadpool) takes the director’s helm this time, and although he does a competent job with the action scenes, but it feels like there’s always a pressure to go even more over the top with the next set piece. There are the obligatory car chases and even a detention facility attack that hearkens back to the first film’s police station attack. A significant portion of the third act takes place on an airborne (and then crashing) plane, which stretches the audience’s suspension of disbelief. There’s just the tiniest bit of humor in the film, which helps the script breath between all the set pieces.
Acting wise, it’s Linda Hamilton who has the strongest footing, although Mackenzie Grace does well with what she’s given. Natalia Reyes doesn’t entirely pull off the “new Sarah Connor” role, but she gets the balance of innocence and spunk right for the most part. Arnold Schwarzenegger only arrives after the halfway mark, but he is a good addition to the group, being mostly soft-spoken and gruff, with a hint of gravitas that’s puts him far ahead of his dreadful turn in Terminator: Genisys.
Other than Hamilton, the best thing about the film is that it isn’t…horrible. It’s easily the third best Terminator film, but that’s almost faint praise considering its competition.
One of the things it gets right is how it uses the T-800. It doesn’t feel forced, and he feels like a meaningful addition to the cast.
This is an okay film, and at times, even a good one. But the Terminator franchise has been running on fumes for so long that it feels too little, too late. Maybe this is the last one in a while, but we can’t fault the studios for wanting to keep the money train going.
As good as it is, it’s still a far cry from the brilliance of T2: Judgement Day. This feels like a blockbuster first and foremost, while T2 was a good film first and blockbuster second. Still, if you have already seen Joker and Jojo Rabbit, then at least you won’t hate seeing this in the theaters. As Terminator sequels go, maybe that’s the best thing you can hope for.