Terminator: Dark Fate

I have to say this out loud. This is the Terminator that I remember from my childhood. This is the continuation that I was wishing for after the second movie. Finally this is something that follows at least some logic and where Arnold Schwarzenegger and Linda Hamilton appear and all of that in combination with great action scenes makes sense. Tim Miller was a good choice and I’m glad that James Cameron was able to manage it from the financial aspect as well as the filmmaking one. Even though I wasn’t expecting anything or maybe just anger, at the end my eyes misted. This movie is as good as its upgraded opening song. It uses well-known Terminator motifs that are changed just slightly so that you can feel the nostalgia of the past emanate from it by adding just a few notes that were previously unknown to you. Moreover Arnold shows up less times that you would want but still it is enough for you not to forget him. (22/07/2020)

A solid action romp and probably to best sequel to Terminator 2, but it still smacks of yesterday’s mashed potatoes with a few added ingredients. In terms of story, it doesn’t bring anything new apart from the mysterious Carl and friendly Grace. The action and the special effects are fantastic, especially in the opening scene. Sarah is a bit too much of a caricature and the rescued girl a bit bland. Miller put together the next sequel that we wanted, but the only thing that it proves is that Cameron did the same, but much better back 1991. It’s raining naked ladies again. (04/11/2019)

James Cameron's directorial genius and precision shines through beautifully when watching Tim Miller's Terminator Dark Fate. It doesn't matter if we're talking about the building up of story dynamics, the iconic moments and catchphrases, the dark vision of the future, or perhaps the action scenes. The steel mill scenes from Terminator 2 are two orders of magnitude more impressive than the dam scene in Dark Fate, which feels tiresome, sterile and above all too digital after a few minutes. It's not that the last Terminator lacks its good moments, which revolve mostly around the genuineness of Mackenzie Davis and Linda Hamilton, but it's still the same generic template of two robots chasing each other, they're just more imaginative, or more breakable, and every now and then Arnold shows up to prove he can still kick some ass and deliver some of his classic one-liners. It's hard to see where anyone got the idea that Dark Fate is the best since T2 and the only relevant sequel. Terminator 3 had more impressive fights and Salvation was pumped up with stunning visuals and a superb post-apocalyptic feel – pity about the finale. We can therefore safely classify the last film as a second-rate contribution, certainly not above the others. (03/11/2019)

The Terminator has become a kind of second Columbo – every time he comes back, you're a little less glad (in the case of the Terminator if you're a viewer, in the case of Columbo if you're a killer). This movie... it's off to a promising start. In fact, its opening scene was the best ever, because it surprised me and made me feel something, which I can't say about the rest of it. The whole weirdly unfolding story failed to make me feel like there was really something going on, that I should be worried about someone. I guess it's also because it's a repeat of what we've seen before, only this time the "new Sarah" isn't interesting at all, the "real Sarah" is mostly a decoy to the fans, and Arnold's terminator gets a terrible beating because by the time the finale comes, in which he finally finds himself, he's acting more like he's in an SNL sketch than the movie James Cameron supposedly had something to do with. The heroine sent from the future, played by Mackenzie Davis, is likeable and reminded me of Brie Larson as Captain Marvel, except that although she points out several times that she is human, I didn't feel any humanity from her and she acted more like a machine. Then again, I hardly know what to write about her antagonist – except perhaps that the repeated shots of his reassembling head/body got old so quickly, as did almost all of the action scenes, which were great but boring. It's the same, maybe a little better than Terminator Genisys... but on the other hand, Genisys at least tried to do the unexpected sometimes (even if it was stupid afterwards). (02/11/2019)

The merger of old and new characters is done nicely and Arnold’s catchphrases will make you laugh. That makes the over-digitized, unnecessarily over-the-top wannabe action (most of all on the plane) all the more annoying, as it completely spoils this otherwise decently entertaining flick. Less would have been more if they couldn’t spend another $ 100 million on better digital effects. And the new young female terminator Mackenzie Davis is tough, but uninteresting and asexual. (26/11/2019)