Before Terminator: Dark Fate hit the silver screen, it started off with an impressive teaser trailer. Set to the music of RIAYA and the voice of John Mark McMillan, there was a visceral appeal to what one would anticipate to be a great movie.
That changed with future trailers that failed to escalate the appeal or even equal it. The anticipation was diminished but there was still this movie that needed to be explored. With that in mind, I watched the new Terminator: Dark Fate.
Without giving away any significant spoilers, the movie starts off with Sarah Connor in Mexico as she confronts yet another terminator. This sets the tone for her character for the rest of the film which ranges from heroic to tired.
Though there was opportunity for some interesting character development throughout the film, Sarah Connor does not look to be the main character in the movie. In fact, it’s hard to pinpoint who exactly is the star.
You have Arnold Schwarzenegger whose T-800 character is clearly only a supporting role. There is Grace, played by Mackenzie Davis, who comes from the future to save the life of Dani Ramos but is more robotic than Schwarzenegger.
There is Dani (Natalia Reyes) whose life needs to be saved but lacks the attention needed to centralize the character. She grows tougher throughout the film but fails to grow more interesting.
The new threat in this film is REV-9 (Gabriel Luna) who actually could have been the central character in that we know very little about the new alternative to Skynet. There are some significant differences to his/its capabilities yet very little attention was given to his history other than to indicate a significant threat.
In terms of the narrative, there were some good moments mixed in with some lazy writing. This is not the worst Terminator movie out there but it falls far short of its potential. I don’t regret watching Terminator: Dark Fate but I hadn’t enjoyed it enough to recommend the movie.