Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton reunion hits Terminator: Dark Fate out of the park
The action kicks ass, the new characters rock, and the reunion of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Linda Hamilton – together on screen for the first time in almost three decades – hits Terminator: Dark Fate right out of the park.
Leigh Paatsch
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True Terminator fans will immediately recognise just how good this sixth instalment in the 35-year-old saga can be when it truly hits its stride.
All the contradictions, paradoxes and clangers sounded out by the latter-day sequels are silenced once and for all by Terminator: Dark Fate.
This modest, but telling turnaround is achieved simply with the story only acknowledging developments logged in the first two movies as relevant reference points.
The action sequences kick ass repeatedly, the new characters rock, and the old-school reunion of Terminator icons Arnold Schwarzenegger and Linda Hamilton – together again on screen for the first time in almost three decades – hits it right out of the park.
In the interests of keeping everything spoiler-free as possible, let’s not go into how the two franchise stalwarts fit into the Dark Fate jigsaw.
Instead, rest assured that the straightforward tale of a super-enhanced new kill machine from the future out to stop a young Mexican woman from her coming role in a resistance against all machines will have you in its thrall from go to whoa.
The movie opens on a pulse-pounding note with a prologue set shortly after the culmination of T2: Judgment Day.
Dark Fate then swoops forward to the present day, where part-mechanised soldier Grace (Mackenzie Davis) and the latest-model kill-bot Rev-9 (Gabriel Luna) arrive from the future on a collision course with young Mexican factory worker Dani (Natalia Reyes).
Rev-9 is easily the most sophisticated, sinister and pimped-out piece of murder-tech to ever appear in a Terminator movie.
To isolate the most powerful weapon in its extensive armoury, it would have to be its ability to divide itself in two – fighting as both a metallic endoskeleton and a poly-flesh cyborg – when a battle calls for it.
While the all-human Dani has a lot to learn fast if she is to survive repeated visits from the Rev-9, the semi-human Grace has her own share of limitations in protecting Dani from each and every assassination attempt.
The duo are going to need some help. I wonder who, or what, will step in and give them a hand?
Though close to a non-stop chase flick in structure, Dark Fate does leave enough gaps for all the need-to-know backstories long-time Terminator tragics have been wondering about.
It can also be a fair comedy when it puts to mind to it, an influence which can clearly be attributed to Deadpool director Tim Miller.
TERMINATOR: DARK FATE (MA15+)
Director: Tim Miller (Deadpool)
Starring: Linda Hamilton, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Mackenzie Davis, Natalia Reyes, Gabriel Luna.
Rating: ***1/2
Bright new life for the franchise that can’t be killed
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