TERMINATOR: DARK FATE (2019)

I'm the rare fan of the Terminator franchise that has enjoyed far more of the various post T2: JUDGEMENT DAY (1991) sequels than I've disliked. The one that I thought was a complete misfire and almost incompetent on a basic level was TERMINATOR: SALVATION (2009). Poorly conceived, stupidly directed, badly written with an almost colorless actor at its center SALVATION is everything that everybody seems to think the other Terminator sequels are. I only suggest seeing it to watch money be flushed down a toilet. Or, you could just watch cats vomit. Same effect.

I thought TERMINATOR 3: RISE OF THE MACHINES (2003) was a massive step down from the first two movies but not a bad little film. I was impressed with TERMINATOR: GENESYS (2015) as a brilliant way to push the story in slightly new directions showing what kind of ripple effects are generated by the successes of the first two film’s actions. I'm still upset that there will never be sequels to GENESYS, to be honest. That was a story line I was going to enjoy seeing unfold.  

With that in mind – in other words, your mileage may vary - this new film DARK FATE (2019) was pretty darned fun! I'm happy that it's at least as energetic, clever, exciting and just plain entertaining as GENESYS even though it goes in a very different direction. The stunt here is bringing back the long written-out Sarah Connor and it really is a joy to see Linda Hamilton kicking ass and taking names again. The action scenes were very well put together bringing real grit and palpable threat to the chases even if some of the CGI needed another pass before being released. And the creators knew better than to set themselves up too well for a sequel so the ending is quite satisfying. I’m sure DARK FATE will get the usual blasting from fans who have hated all the other sequels but I’m looking forward to repeat viewings.