Review of Terminator: Dark Fate (2019) by Gaijin- — 10 Nov 2019

TLDR version: fun action movie if you don't care about the original movies and can tolerate some heavy handed identity politics. Long-time fans of the series, stay away.

Full-sized review: If you have not watched the original two movies,TLDR version: fun action movie if you don't care about the original movies and can tolerate some heavy handed identity politics. Long-time fans of the series, stay away.

Full-sized review:

If you have not watched the original two movies, then this one is a fun, switch-off-your-brain action film, and I could see how this could be a 7 or even an 8 for you.

If you are a fan of the original movies, though, this film rewrites the story in such an insulting, infuriating way that you will probably give this a 4 or a 5. I do not think this movie deserves less than a 4, though, even with all its flaws.

The acting is uneven, with Linda and Arnold being excellent and the other two main performers having ups and downs, but not bad overall.

The action scenes are a bit over the top but, this being a Terminator movie, is to be expected. It requires some suspension of disbelief, but if you've watched any of the Fast and Furious movies (especially the most recent one) you will not be surprised.

The writing... well, this is where the movie loses points for me. Let me try to break it down:

- The script rewrites the whole time line of the Terminator universe, to the point that it renders the original two movies meaningless. I understand the desire to evolve past the original actors / characters, but this movie could have been executed without introducing these major retroactive continuity changes. If you are a fan of the saga, you will feel insulted.

- Identity politics. These days one has to accept that every other movie / TV show is going to introduce some sort of identity politics message, but this movie really goes out of its way to do it. Except for Arnold, all the male characters in this movie are idiots or **** The movie introduces an unnecessary plot point to show very specific views on the issue of migration in the US.

I honestly have nothing against strong female main characters; both Linda Hamilton and Mackenzie Davis and their characters are great. But I do not see the need to spread anti-male sentiment in order to empower women.

In sum, the movie wants to take the franchise in a different direction and chooses to do so in a way that I find unnecessarily disrespectful to the previous works. You will like it only if you have not watched or do not care about the original two movies.