When news broke in 2017 that James Cameron was getting back the rights to the Terminator universe that he commenced with the envelope pushing 1984 classic, the idea that we might get a true third chapter—a closer to his trilogy—seemed equally eminent and exciting. That meant that audiences could expect a Cameron overseen true follow-up to Terminator 2: Judgement Day by 2019. That Cameron touch has proved to be all the difference in the world as Terminator: Dark Fate has arrived on screens and is the best film in the series since the 1991 genre defining flick.
First, the good news. Cameron’s touch as producer is all over this sixth “Terminator” and that is a very good thing as those other three sequels failed at almost every level (except that television series that was criminally underrated). One of the first strokes of genius for Cameron’s was to hand Deadpool helmer Tim Miller the reins to the film series that put the filmmaker on the map. Although there is not an overwhelming amount of humor in Terminator movies, there is that occasional wisecrack (usually from Arnold Schwarzenegger) that lightens the storyline’s beats so that the intense action sequences carry more weight and allow for that priceless ebb and flow of emotional curves that are imperative to any good story. Miller knows how to intertwine lighter moments in a sea of sizzling action from his work on the Merc with a Mouth movie.
The second element of Cameron’s wisdom centered on helping construct a storyline that had to forge a blazing trail into a Skynet-less future, yet could still realistically bring back Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) and the Terminator (Schwarzenegger) himself, in the most electrically original of ways. Somehow, all involved from behind the camera pulled it off.
Diving into Terminator: Dark Fate was filled with nervous anticipation due to the fact that this guy could not be a bigger fan of the second Terminator film, specifically how it concluded (and obviously the first flick, which I’ll never forget seeing at my local theater as a kid and then turning around and watching it a second and third time!). Where could the story go? What would it involve and if Skynet is not the one cueing machines to seal our doom, than whom? Most importantly, how could all this be achieved without alienating a single fan that has been eagerly anticipating a Cameron-led return to Terminator-town?
Our story begins by actually going back. A grainy, iconically haunting video plays and it’s Connor—in a scene right out of T2—telling Dr. Silberman (Earl Boen) about the coming apocalypse. It’s a moment that practically explodes with chilling crescendo as Connor works up to “you’re all dead. Everybody is dead!” Fade to black, and now the action shifts to the arrival of two forces from the future, Grace (Mackenzie Davis) and Gabriel Luna’s Gabriel. The latter is a model known as Rev-9 and is—for all intensive purposes—impossible to eliminate. The former was sent from the future to protect a new mark. Davis’ character is a hybrid of human and machine that gives those Terminators a run for their money. She does has a flaw and it’s brilliant how that fact plays perfectly into a myriad of scenes that already had us on the edges of our collective seats.
Meanwhile, the Rev-9 possesses so many bells and whistles that it’s literally jaw-dropping. We also meet Dani Ramos (Natalia Reyes), a Mexican woman who mysteriously is at the center of whether humanity continues.
As seen in the Terminator: Dark Fate trailer, Grace finds Dani. The two are perilously close to having Grace’s mission be the shortest in Terminator history. But before you can say, “I’ll be back,” a screeching car arrives. Out emerges Connor, guns a blazing. It’s a sight for sore eyes to witness the original fierce female (along with Sigourney Weaver’s Ripley), who helped redefine the modern movie archetype, back in action battling robotic walking and talking terrors.
To explore how Schwarzenegger is involved, in any facet, would be a spoiler cavalcade. Let’s just say this: How Cameron, Miller and their team achieved a full-on T2 reunion is pure action movie bliss.
When it comes the cinematic arts and giving writers’ credit, and there’s a full writer’s room worth of screenwriters given that credit, it usually adds up to a convoluted mess. That could not be further from what audiences get with Terminator: Dark Fate. That had to be one immense challenge, especially when one is penning something that plays with the essence of time travel. There are countless cause and effect elements to consider because if there’s an audience that will spot holes in story…it is sci-fi (and horror) fans. There are three folks given credit for the screenplay and three others (including Cameron) given a “story” credit. The cohesiveness of the script is tight and under the leadership of the man who invented this world, it works—and works well.
There is an issue, albeit a small one that could be easily forgotten by most. The Dark Fate plot, at its core, is essentially a rehash of what (generally) occurred in 1984’s The Terminator. It was quite surprising to witness that, but it doesn’t weigh down the entire endeavor too much. What makes it wickedly entertaining are the outside forces of this tale, i.e. the improvements in the future’s technology of these time traveling killing machines (such as Gabriel) and their more altruistic counterparts (Grace). But overall, it is still a futuristic assassin going back in time to eliminate someone from the past (our present) who is integral to the machine’s futuristic demise.
Several things are at work here that prevents us from having trouble with a looks-on-the-surface retread (like was delivered with Star Wars: The Force Awakens). The first is that this film truly feels like it is something special, an event if you will. The reteaming of Schwarzenegger and Hamilton—with their onscreen chemistry and shorthand—is so stunningly laid out and executed. There’s also the fierceness of Luna’s Rev-9. Sure, his character is built (and written for that matter) with mind-blowing drive to lay waste to anything that gets in his way. In the hands of the Austin, Texas native, there is a chilling command of everything that encapsulates being a Terminator. That involves some heady company, most notably The Terminator’s Cyberdyne Systems Model 101, with its career-launching performance by the former Governor of California, and Robert Patrick’s T-1000 from T2. Lastly, there is the carefully crafted, fully-fledged Grace and the extraordinary turn by Davis that is so distinctly human with the perfect panache of robotics thrown in when the scenes require it.
Schwarzenegger delivers a nuanced performance that befits the Terminator he is tasked with portraying in Dark Fate. It’s a welcomed change from the previous use of the Austrian actor’s talents with his long anticipated return to the role in 2015’s Terminator: Genisys. His touch is pitch perfect and what makes it extra special is seen when Sarah and the Terminator first meet. She is the embodiment of this scarred world’s humanity … full of rage, regret and a desire for revenge. He is stoic, yet much more in ways that we’ve never seen from a Schwarzenegger time traveler.
Davis delivers a seismic performance as Grace. She, soon to be seen in The Turning, matches Hamilton’s inspirational embodiment of Sarah Connor and adds layers of empathy and electrifying passion to her character. Whenever Grace, Sarah and Dani share the big screen it gave me chills. It’s one thing to craft three female characters and have them kick ass. It’s a whole other ballgame to interweave emotive elements that fosters a chemistry that goes beyond being a ferocious fighter. That’s what we got from Hamilton all those years ago and is firmly why she has resonated with countless generations since her 1984 debut. Davis gives us something distinct, thankfully, but it does dazzlingly live in the same neighborhood as the character of Connor.
What Cameron has done (all amazingly while ushering in a million Avatar movies) with Terminator: Dark Fate is not only grabbing back his baby but set up a landscape that could see this final film in a Cameron-produced trilogy that also serves as a launching pad for a whole new trilogy. When it comes to Cameron and the Terminator films, I’m reminded of when U2 covered The Beatles’ Helter Skelter on their Rattle and Hum album. Bono proudly stated, as The Edge started those legendary guitar riffs, “Charles Manson stole Helter Skelter from The Beatles and now we’re stealing it back.”
That is what Cameron has done with his Terminator baby … taken it back.
Grade: B+