Terminator: Dark Fate – Film Review

The Terminator franchise hasn’t been held in high regard for many years and I wasn’t convinced Dark Fate could turn it around, so I’m happy to report that it’s a step in the right direction, but not a return to form for the franchise.

The film is set 28 years after the events of Judgment Day. A half-human half-robot hybrid named Grace (Mackenzie Davis) drops down in Mexico City with the sole purpose of saving Dani Ramos (Natalia Reyes), who is being hunted by an evolved liquid Terminator from the future – the Rev-9 (Gabriel Luna). This new breed of Terminator is practically impossible to defeat, so Grace needs the help of Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) and the T-800 (Arnold Schwarzenegger).

When it was announced Hamilton was reprising her role as the iconic Sarah Connor after 28 years I was so excited. I figured she – alongside franchise creator James Cameron – wouldn’t return unless the story was decent and thankfully it is. Hamilton continues her streak of starring in good Terminator films! I didn’t love her grouchy, bitter personality but it made sense given her history and it was so awesome to see her kicking ass and taking names again.

This time she leads with not one but two badass women. I love Davis and I was thrilled to see her take on such a completely different, physical role. She looked amazing, capable and so damn cool. Dani has a similar storyline to Sarah back in the ’90s – going from scared and confused to holding her own. Reyes doesn’t make as much of an impact as the others but she was a warm likeable character. Schwarzenegger provided some much-needed comic relief and had some lovely character moments as the retired Terminator now known as Carl.

The plot – the women being chased by the invincible Terminator – is very similar to other instalments in the franchise and I did get tired of it towards the end. I was so ready for the Rev-9 to be defeated! It’s boring and repetitive having an indestructible villain. The CGI was a bit dodgy in places, the action set pieces were slightly ridiculous and I switched off a little during them but I cared about the four lead characters and liked their arcs.

Terminator: Dark Fate is by no means perfect but it’s nowhere near the misfire I feared it would be. It’s an enjoyable outing with three awesome female leads.

In cinemas now