TERMINATOR: DARK FATE
****
Director: Tim Miller
Screenwriters: David S. Goyer, Justin Rhodes and Billy Ray.
Principal cast:
Mackenzie Davis
Natalia Reyes
Linda Hamilton
Gabriel Luna
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Diego Boneta
Country: China/USA/Spain/Hungary
Classification: MA15+
Runtime: 128 mins.
Australian release date: 31 October 2019
Previewed at: Event Cinemas, George Street, Sydney, on 28 October 2019.
Although Terminator: Dark Fate is the sixth film in The Terminator franchise, its creators basically want you to forget about the last three movies because the plot picks up directly after the events of 1991’s Terminator 2: Judgement Day. T2 was the last in the series to involve the talents of its co-instigator (with Gale Anne Hurd), James Cameron, and its original female lead, Linda Hamilton; now, these two important figures have returned to the series and, of course, Arnie Schwarzenegger is “baaack” as well. This time, Cameron and his director, Tim Mills of Deadpool fame, have tripled down on the kick-ass female role and Sarah Connor (Hamilton) is joined by an ‘augmented’ human soldier, Grace (Mackenzie Davis), and a young Mexican woman, Dani (Natalia Reyes), as the prey being hunted from the future. Cameron says that he wanted to recapture the feeling of The Terminator. “It has the same intensity, the same take-no prisoners feeling and sense of abject terror,” he says. “The first film was supposed to scare the crap out of you about a possible dark future and the survival of a girl that we come to care about. This film, like the others, deals with the threat of a human collision with artificial super-intelligence, which is a whole lot less science-fiction today than it was in 1984 or 1991.” Fans will be happy to learn that he sees this new movie as the first of a trilogy.
Terminator: Dark Fate features a new cyborg villain replacing Schwarzenegger’s superseded T-800 model, a REV-9 (played with creepy malevolence by Gabriel Luna). He’s been sent back from 2042 to terminate Dani, for reasons that aren’t revealed until very late in the film, but his arrival is preceded by the sudden appearance of Grace, who’s been tasked with the mission of protecting the young woman, and gives the pair a slight head-start on the dispassionate cyber-killer. He’s relentless, though, and seemingly indestructible, until the cavalry arrives with some heavy weaponry - as Grace and he do battle after a thrilling truck and car chase, who should turn up out-of-the-blue but Sarah? It appears someone has been anonymously directing her to wherever a new terminator arrives on Earth, thus keeping the planet safe from them. Realising that they are going to need help if they’re to defeat the REV-9, the trio head off to find the source of Sarah’s mysterious messages, with the terminator in hot pursuit.
This latest instalment in the franchise does, indeed, hark back to the originals and succeeds in conjuring up that same sense of tension. Admittedly, it is a little hard to get your head around some of the twists in time that explain why Dani is in such mortal danger but, frankly, it won’t matter to most movie-goers and the series’ welded-on aficionados will no doubt understand them all (to say more would reveal spoilers). The incredible SFX and the highly kinetic chase scenes are the things that will keep most viewers engaged, and Arnie, of course. He gets some of the best lines and there’s much fun to be had when Sarah and he are re-united. Remember, this is the cyborg that was originally sent to kill John Connor, her son, and she’s carrying a mighty grudge because of it. Lovers of sci-fi and action films will find a lot to like in Terminator: Dark Fate.
Screenwriters: David S. Goyer, Justin Rhodes and Billy Ray.
Principal cast:
Mackenzie Davis
Natalia Reyes
Linda Hamilton
Gabriel Luna
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Diego Boneta
Country: China/USA/Spain/Hungary
Classification: MA15+
Runtime: 128 mins.
Australian release date: 31 October 2019
Previewed at: Event Cinemas, George Street, Sydney, on 28 October 2019.
Although Terminator: Dark Fate is the sixth film in The Terminator franchise, its creators basically want you to forget about the last three movies because the plot picks up directly after the events of 1991’s Terminator 2: Judgement Day. T2 was the last in the series to involve the talents of its co-instigator (with Gale Anne Hurd), James Cameron, and its original female lead, Linda Hamilton; now, these two important figures have returned to the series and, of course, Arnie Schwarzenegger is “baaack” as well. This time, Cameron and his director, Tim Mills of Deadpool fame, have tripled down on the kick-ass female role and Sarah Connor (Hamilton) is joined by an ‘augmented’ human soldier, Grace (Mackenzie Davis), and a young Mexican woman, Dani (Natalia Reyes), as the prey being hunted from the future. Cameron says that he wanted to recapture the feeling of The Terminator. “It has the same intensity, the same take-no prisoners feeling and sense of abject terror,” he says. “The first film was supposed to scare the crap out of you about a possible dark future and the survival of a girl that we come to care about. This film, like the others, deals with the threat of a human collision with artificial super-intelligence, which is a whole lot less science-fiction today than it was in 1984 or 1991.” Fans will be happy to learn that he sees this new movie as the first of a trilogy.
Terminator: Dark Fate features a new cyborg villain replacing Schwarzenegger’s superseded T-800 model, a REV-9 (played with creepy malevolence by Gabriel Luna). He’s been sent back from 2042 to terminate Dani, for reasons that aren’t revealed until very late in the film, but his arrival is preceded by the sudden appearance of Grace, who’s been tasked with the mission of protecting the young woman, and gives the pair a slight head-start on the dispassionate cyber-killer. He’s relentless, though, and seemingly indestructible, until the cavalry arrives with some heavy weaponry - as Grace and he do battle after a thrilling truck and car chase, who should turn up out-of-the-blue but Sarah? It appears someone has been anonymously directing her to wherever a new terminator arrives on Earth, thus keeping the planet safe from them. Realising that they are going to need help if they’re to defeat the REV-9, the trio head off to find the source of Sarah’s mysterious messages, with the terminator in hot pursuit.
This latest instalment in the franchise does, indeed, hark back to the originals and succeeds in conjuring up that same sense of tension. Admittedly, it is a little hard to get your head around some of the twists in time that explain why Dani is in such mortal danger but, frankly, it won’t matter to most movie-goers and the series’ welded-on aficionados will no doubt understand them all (to say more would reveal spoilers). The incredible SFX and the highly kinetic chase scenes are the things that will keep most viewers engaged, and Arnie, of course. He gets some of the best lines and there’s much fun to be had when Sarah and he are re-united. Remember, this is the cyborg that was originally sent to kill John Connor, her son, and she’s carrying a mighty grudge because of it. Lovers of sci-fi and action films will find a lot to like in Terminator: Dark Fate.