Hi everyone!
Welcome back to another Matinee Monday. Last week had two films I wanted to see in theaters, but instead I chose to cover “Harriet” (Episode #638) last week. Believe it or not, I was a little gun shy about today’s film after the disappointing franchise closer “Rambo: Last Blood” (Episode #634). But despite box office returns, the film seems to be faring well. I’ll let you know in a minute if it fared well with me.
Before the review, we’ll have a promo from our friends at Two Views Movies. Every week, Carson and Garrett give us their thoughts on a current or classic movie, sometimes finding common ground, but often fighting about it. When they’re not reviewing movies, they also include an occasional and obscure Top 5 list, with their last one covering the greatest flare scenes in cinema. You can find them on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram @TwoViewsMovies, or online at twoviewsmovies.com.
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Here we go!
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Today’s movie is “Terminator: Dark Fate”, the latest and maybe final installment in the Terminator franchise, directed by Tim Miller and written for the screen by David S. Goyer, Justin Rhodes, and Billy Ray, based on a story by James Cameron, Charles H. Eglee, Josh Friendman, David S. Goyer, and Justin Rhodes, based on characters created by James Cameron and Gale Anne Hurd. 22 years after the events of “T2: Judgment Day”, two new visitors from the future have arrived in Mexico City, seeking Dani Ramos (Natalia Reyes), the future leader of the resistance. The machines have sent the REV-9 model (Gabriel Luna), a combination of metal frame and oozing metal that can form stabbing weapons, and the human resistance have sent Grace (Mackenzie Davis), an augmented human. Now Grace, along with the help of Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) and another T-800 model (Arnold Schwarzenegger) must protect Dani to protect the future.
No spoilers.
Quite a few franchises seem to be ending this year, all pretty terribly in my opinion. “Glass” was a pretentious take attempting to tie together two movies only really linked by one end credits scene. “Dark Phoenix” felt like everyone involved was phoning it in, right down to the recycled storyline from “X-Men: The Last Stand”. “Rambo: Last Blood” was... bad. With the possible exception of “How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World” (Episode #450), however, “Terminator: Dark Fate” feels like the next best closer for this year. Of course, no one has said it’s the end of the line for the franchise, but it will need to be a labor of love to prevent a full franchise reboot at this point.
In fact, I think it’s safe to say that the delays between films have been the biggest downfall of the Terminator franchise. “Terminator 2: Judgment Day” was a surprising sequel, coming seven years after the original in 1991, before Cameron disappeared from the franchise to make a small film called “Titanic”. “T3: Rise of the Machines” debuted twelve years later in 2003, attempting to keep things going. “Terminator: Salvation” released six years after that in 2009, was set wholly within the machine-controlled future, with a short-circuiting leaked set rant from Christian Bale that made headlines briefly. Cameron finally returned six years after that with “Terminator: Genisys”, which was okay, but also a box office disappointment, with two additional films afterwards cancelled. And now “Terminator: Dark Fate” is suffering at the box office like “Terminator: Genisys”, so the proposed additional two movies feel much more like a production pitch than a set reality, especially if James Cameron wants to ever get the Avatar franchise back off the ground.
While “Terminator: Dark Fate” might be a decent actioner and entry into the franchise, it’s probably arriving twenty years too late to keep the train going as a direct sequel to “T2: Judgment Day”. Much like 2018’s “Halloween” (Episode #623), the writers and producers decided to scrap all the films in-between, employing a pretty standard alternate timelines employing new threats gambit. It’s a favorite of all the writers for this franchise, perhaps now overused too much to be effective. It’s also pretty much the same story as the very first film, an attempt to kill the future human resistance leader.
The real improvements come from the new enemies. We get the new terminator model, which becomes a vehicle for excellent action scenes and a variety of direct and improvised fight styles. It’s an easy role for Gabriel Luna, who just stares broodingly and speaks within a limited vocal range. We also get the new augmented human, able to square off against terminators with in short bursts, but also requiring recovery time. Mackenzie Davis shines as Grace, a surprising casting choice after her role as Tully in “Tully” (Episode #482). Every action scene in this film is excellent, well worth the price of admission, but unfortunately, nothing that wouldn’t have played just as well, if not much better in, say, 1997.
I want to give a lot of props to Linda Hamilton for coming back to the franchise. She endured a great deal of difficult training for anyone, but especially for her age to turn out the amazing performance in today’s film. I really wish she had remained a centerpiece in the franchise, so we could have seen her character evolve over twenty years. As it is, this feels like a swan song, although she still kicks all the ass that’s available in this film. We learn in the opening scene about the fate of John Connor, and then later while she’s still, for some reason, hunting terminators as they appear.
“Terminator: Dark Fate” also suffers from too many writers putting this film together, which rarely bodes well. Either films feel too discombobulated or they feel heavily processed and workshopped, perhaps too safe. “Terminator: Dark Fate” feels way too polished, as if focus groups were asked to create a checklist of what makes the Terminator franchise enjoyable, then making sure those elements appear in this film. Linda Hamilton as Sarah Connor? Present! New terminators/humans? Check. Lots of great action scenes? Check. Straight-ahead storytelling between action scenes? Check. Average attempts at humor surrounding Arnold’s character? Perhaps too much, including Sarah Connor’s famous trailer line, “I’ll be back.” We sort of know what to expect going in, and we sort of know how it will turn out, and none of it is worth twenty years of waiting.
“Terminator: Dark Fate” might be the last in the current Terminator franchise, discovering precious little new ground while successfully course correcting some misfired attempts since “Terminator 2: Judgment Day”. While the film promises to be the beginning of a new trilogy, the current box office returns, plus the lack of promise in a future without Sarah Connor, feels like the wrong choice in favor of a full reboot. Franchise fans, who have to be incredibly forgiving at this point, along with fans of “T2: Judgment Day” and action fans in general will definitely enjoy this film.
Rotten Tomatoes: 71%
Metacritic: 54
One Movie Punch: 7.1/10
“Terminator: Dark Fate” (2019) is rated R and is currently playing in theaters.
