Sarah Connor and an enhanced human from the future must fight against the most advanced Terminator ever sent back in time, protecting a young woman whose existence is the key to humanity’s fate.
Old wine, new bottle. The franchise’s sixth instalment acknowledges only Terminator (1984) and Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991) and pretends the ones in between never happened (or ‘occurred in alternate timelines’).
The pros: The story contains – or repeats – the necessary elements from T1 and T2, making Dark Fate look and sound like a Terminator movie. Linda Hamilton defies age. Mackenzie Davis kicks ass. Gabriel Luna… keeps coming back. And last but not least, even though I was sceptical at first glance, Arnold Schwarzenegger always was and always will be the Terminator.
The cons: Even though the story borrows the best elements from the previous films, the script relies on T1’s and T2’s previous glory to stand out, eventually overshadowing them. James Cameron and Tim Miller are both visual effects directors, leading to a VFX overuse. Which is exactly what T1 and T2 weren’t. Cameron’s and Miller’s opposite personalities clashed, which showed heavily in the editing suite – where all the fights occurred. Dark Fate, as collateral damage, paid the price for it. Lastly, Natalia Reyes, an otherwise very charismatic actress, landed a plainly flat role. And it wasn’t her fault. Going from crying and never firing a weapon to the moronic, wannabe heroic level ‘I will stand, and I will fight’ makes everyone yawn to tears – something that eight (8) writers and co-writers who read it got the goosebumps.
Filmmakers need to keep in mind that #movements are there, in their majority, for impressions and popularity. Not everyone but most people, from all over the world and every walk of life, join these movements to give meaning to their lives and express themselves from the comfort of their couches and the safety of their houses in a way that they never could face to face. The systematic effort to please these groups keeps leading to film failures and fans’ profound disappointment. Because hashtags are for free, films aren’t.
Is it worth your time? It does. Remember, film= escapism. For just over two hours, relax and forget all your problems. If anything, it will probably be the last Terminator you will ever watch.
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Solidarity for all the innocent lives who suffer the atrocities of war!
Stay safe!
