Terminator: Dark Fate

Kamurai 6/23/2021 3:58:45 PM 8.4

Great watch, would watch again, and do recommend. First, time travel is the worst, but it's what allows the premise. I don't like divergent timelines, but it allows for some interesting scenarios, so when an android that never would have been created kills someone that would had stopped it from existing had it not been erased from existence, I'm a little interested. The other big difference, and I'm not really opposed, is that they turned this into a women's empowerment movie when it could have just been bad ass women on screen and it wouldn't have slapped the audience so hard. Plus there is a weird parallel there where they still need a "big strong man" to save them, but it's a machines, so the only man a woman really needs is a "machine"? I don't know, I really liked the movie, and I sure wouldn't change the cast, just maybe point it in a more linear direction than the "protect the womb" mislead they threw in to throw shade at the original. Linda Hamilton is just as bad ass as ever, and Arnold Schwarzenegger is really keeping up too. I love Mackenzie Davis in this: she plays a no-nonsense, dedicated soldier so well. Unfortunately Natalia Reyes just doesn't sell the character she's supposed to be to me, and Gabriel Luna doesn't quite pop for some reason. Granted the T-1000 has some surprise and charm to it that the REV-9 doesn't quite have just in the nature of it. I will say the REV-9 does bring a very specific flavor to the action, being 1, 1.5, or even 2 separate characters really has a lot of potential to it, and I do want to see a different story that does intelligence work with a similar concept, but the action this gives is pretty sweet. And that's where it is special, mostly in the nano-bot effects. Most of the rest of the action is pretty standard, but good, and Mackenzie Davis does such a great job playing up being super powered against such a crazy machine. I do how she joins the Marvel Universe. Fans of the Terminator franchise, androids, action should like this, though I'll admit it's not a return for formula, but it better than some of the other movies in the franchise.

Rob 6/17/2023 6:45:10 AM 8.4

This is a great instalment of the whole Terminator franchise, produced by the only man who counts when it comes to The Terminator, James Cameron. After some more than disappointing additions to the movie lineup, this one is back to what we know, love and want. You can't reinvent the wheel so they don't even try here, they've just re-chromed, polished and added some spinners to the original setup. Dark Fate is simply Judgement Day with modern movie magic and I have no problem with that. And Linda Hamilton as a salty old lady wielding all kinds of assault weapons as if she's almost bored with the whole thing is a treat.

JPV852 6/23/2021 3:58:33 PM 8.4

Pretty good (second) reboot for this long-running franchise with some decent action, respectable enough visual effects (some parts looked off, though) and I did genuinely liked the two new cast members while Linda Hamilton and Arnold Schwarzenegger were fine. That being said, it's also pretty clear this is not a franchise that needed to have gone beyond the two movies (and I might give leniency to "The Sara Connor Chronicles"). The saving grace is that on the technical front, it was an entertaining popcorn flick but like Genysis (which I also liked tbh), not really sure when I would revisit. **3.5/5**