Terminator: Dark Fate (2019)

Directed by: Tim Miller | 128 minutes | action, adventure | Actors: Linda Hamilton, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Mackenzie Davis, Natalia Reyes, Gabriel Luna, Diego Boneta, Ferran Fernández, Tristán Ulloa, Tomás Álvarez, Tom Hopper, Alicia Borrachero, Enrique Arce, Manuel Pacific, Fraser James, Pedro Rudolphi, Diego Marínez, Kevin Medina, Steven Cree

Hey, isn’t this the sixth ‘Terminator’ movie? Yes, that’s right, but one that completely ignores the last three parts (“Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines” (2003); “Terminator Salvation” (2009) and “Terminator Genisys” (2015) and connects directly to Terminator 2 : Judgment Day. That continuity with the first two parts is ensured in part by the return of Linda Hamilton as Sarah Connor and behind-the-scenes that of James Cameron. The celebrated director serves as producer and co-wrote the story – and his stamp is clearly visible.

‘Terminator: Dark Fate’ immediately hits the spot and in a surprising twist in the opening scene, however, immediately underlines that this film is going in a different direction. It takes some getting used to and switching. All previous installments revolved around Skynet, the inevitable and only postponable Judgment Day, and the ensuing resistance against the machines led by John Connor. This premise immediately disappears over the horizon – and new threats take its place. The basic idea has survived: in the future, the machines will rule and groups of resistance fighters will try to stop them. Whoever stayed, of course, are the Terminators. Here too, one is sent to the past on a murder mission. This time in the form of the ‘Rev-9’, an advanced model (played by Gabriel Luna) with several innovative tricks that we have not seen before. He is after Mexican factory worker Daniella “Dani” Ramos (Nathalie Reyes), who is linked to the resistance in the future. The Resistance sends Private Grace back in time, played by Mackenzie Davis – who carries her own secrets.

The already mentioned return of Linda Hamilton as Sarah Connor, the mother of John and the heroine of the first two parts, is very welcome. And what is a Terminator movie without Arnold Schwarzenegger? He is the one constant in all movies and here too he plays a crucial role as an outdated T-800, both in technology and in appearance that now bears the name ‘Carl’. Sarah and Carl help Grace protect Dani, and all four of them have their hands full trying to keep the Rev-9 at bay.

It is understandable that ‘Dark Fate’ takes a different direction. The storylines got a bit exhausted. It’s daring, but at the same time – without immediately having to shout “spoiler alert” – it also destroys the involvement of the fans in the first two parts. And what do the makers do next? They actually ruminate on exactly the same storylines, but put a different label on them. Nevertheless, the film can still claim a podium place in the top 3 of best films from the entire series (after part 2 in place 1 and part 1 in place 2). But is that such a merit? After the pessimistic tone of ‘Rise of the Machines’ with a flat lead by Nick Stahl, the series went quite downhill – ‘Salvation’ had good action scenes but was very unbalanced and ‘Genisys’ tried to be a reboot of sorts, but missed just about everything that made the Terminator series so special. ‘Dark Fate’ is clearly better than those films, but barely manages to rise above mediocrity on its own.

Director Tim Miller (‘Deadpool’) races through the 128 minutes of playing time at lightning speed with only a few pauses for breath and reflections. Schwarzenegger is introduced too late, but the whole setup around Carl’s life situation, the interaction with Sarah and the dry way in which Schwarzenegger handles this, is good for a chuckle and grin. He actually knows how to convey emotions, which is quite an achievement for both the cyborg and the actor who plays him. It’s the strong performances of Davis and Hamilton – both tormented, both capable of smashing or shooting a Terminator (even if it recovers almost immediately) – that keep the film afloat. Miller continues to expand the action scenes to ever greater proportions and for which he also needs more and more CGI and special effects.

The film offers plenty of leads for a sequel. But unfortunately for the makers, ‘Terminator: Dark Fate’ failed miserably in theaters. Undeservedly perhaps, but the audience had clearly had enough of the entire film series. If it was indeed a final chord – and with Terminators you never know that in the end – that will at least end the series on a slightly higher level.