The Terminator franchise has built a strong foundation with its first two films, which are considered classics. However, it is a shame that there were no films after that which managed to reach the same level. Although I did enjoy Genisys, but not everyone had the same opinion. With Dark Fate, Linda Hamilton returns to this series and the question is to what extent that adds something. Is Dark Fate a return to form?
In the first 20 minutes of Terminator: Dark Fate it becomes immediately clear what kind of film this is. Almost all elements from Judgment Day come are used: People / robots from the future appear, an unknown woman, Dani Ramos (Natalia Reyes) is the target of the Terminator and needs to be protected, there are various pursuits and the terminator from this film can also change his appearance to any person. The rest of the film changes little and actually only adds a bitter Sarah Connor, as extra protection. Mackenzie Davis plays her role of guardian angel Grace convincingly. Her character feels like a formidable opponent of the new terminator, the REV-9 (Gabriel Luna), although she seems to have the same issues as Jean Claude van Damme in Universal Soldier. Dani, the target, is a character who has little to do and is basically an empty slate.
What Dark Fate is trying to do is make it clear to the viewer that Skynet’s threat is no longer there (with a CGI scene where the characters are still in the uncanny valley), but that there is a new danger. With a changed future you would also expect that technology would no longer be the same, but the time traveling and even the appearance of the new Terminator haven’t changed. Maybe the idea was “the more things change, the more stays the same”, but it results in a Terminator film that feels like a tribute to the second film, but not nearly as well made. The addition of characters from that film adds little to that and when it finally becomes known what the role of Dani is in the future, it never feels important. The story is unfortunately too weak and not all action scenes make an impression. Schwarzenegger says “I won’t be back” and to be honest I wouldn’t mind if that is also the case with this franchise.
[score4]