Terminator: Dark Fate (2019)

Review by Shirhan Manan

Terminator: Dark Fate (or as I like to call it ‘T3’) is packed with action, stunning fight sequences and great acting from returning cast members Schwarzenegger as the T800 and Linda Hamilton reprising her role as Sarah Connor. They appear alongside newcomers Mackenzie Davis, Natalia Reyes, Gabriel Luna and Diego Boneta.

While there have been five feature films in the ‘Terminator’ franchise, the producers  of Terminator: Dark Fate (including the returning James Cameron), have chosen to ignore everything after Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991), in effect creating a partial reboot that proceeds as if Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003), Terminator Salvation (2009) and Terminator Genisys (2015) had never occurred. No doubt this is due to the return of James Cameron to the franchise he created. Cameron hasn’t been involved in the series since T2, so it gives him a chance to reset the clock and reestablish his brand as it were. 

So basically, this film picks up the timeline after the events from T2. In this new timeline the company Skynet had no impact, after the events that took place on “Judgment Day” the artificial intelligent machines never had a chance to take over the world. Instead, a company called Legion has created a.I. driven machines that have killed off most of the human race.

New and much more sophisticated Terminators such as Rev-9 (played by Gabriel Luna) are a skeletal machine system covered by a dark liquid surface which can separate from its skeletal structure and create its own form. It’s an obvious amalgam of the original T-800 design and the liquid metal T1000, but more sophisticated and advanced. The new design allows the Rev-9 terminator two split and fight as two separate entities.

Rev-9 comes from the future to terminate Dani Ramos (played by Natalia Reyes) who seems to be a very significant person in the future. Grace (Mackenzie Davis), is a cyborg from the future, half human and half machine she is sent back to protect Dani with the aid of bad-ass Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton).

Throughout the first half of the film it is unclear why Dani is so important. We eventually learn about half way through the film when it finally starts to make sense. 

Arnold Schwarzenegger’s character Carl, (yes his name is Carl), makes an appearance about half way into the film. His character is quite humorous, though not as corny as in other recent Terminator films. That’s all I’ll say about Arnie.

The production value of the film is quite high with good use of VFX and CGI without overdoing it. The Rev-9 liquid form was quite impressive. 
Overall, I enjoyed the film. I went in with no expectation whatsoever and found it very enjoyable. Highly recommended if you’re a Terminator fan.


in one scene we look back at the past with young versions of Sarah Connor, John Connor and the T800. The scene must have taken place sometime very soon after the events of Judgement Day. Being a CGI artist myself I was a little baffled as to how they achieved this, whether it is unused footage from T2 or whether it was CGI. I honestly couldn’t tell, they looked so real. 

There a few other action scenes which I did not care for such as when they are flying in a military plane. I found it too busy and distracting, there was so much going on I couldn’t really focus on what was happening. 

There are a few plot issues that I couldn’t quite get my head around. Maybe it’s just me, I haven’t seen T1 and T2 for a while so I may have forgotten a few bits and pieces that might fill in the gaps.

Terminator: Dark Fate is screening in Australian theaters from today, October 31

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