Terminator: Dark Fate!

It's hard to give my thoughts on this movie without spoiling anything, because this is one of those movies with important plot points. However, the trailer does give a lot of them away, or at least infer them, so there's not much to spoil. If you've watched the trailer, you can basically guess the exact plot progression of the movie because trailers these days are awfully in depth. They leave nothing to the imagination, and this movie is no exception.

For what it's worth, the movie entertained the shit out of me. Our main characters are Dani, Grace, and Sarah. Don't expect much Arnold in the movie, though. You'll go at least half of this movie before you see him, but when he comes in, you'll dance with joy. He's got a very interesting dynamic and character arc, but we'll skip that for now.

So after T2, the future was changed, but the effects still linger and have a definite impact on what's to come. Is Skynet a thing? Obviously, the future is still fucked if this shit is still happening, but it's a slightly different future we're involved with. Shit is arguably worse this time around, because they have the capabilities of sending back the Rev-9, which is a merger of a hollowed out endoskeleton and liquid metal exterior. Gabriel Luna does a good job rivaling the menacing T-1000 with his superior and seemingly indestructible model, and only our enhanced protagonist Grace has the capabilities to combat him, but not without her own limitations, because she is still mostly human after all.

The inclusion of Linda Hamilton solidifies this as a worthwhile entry. Sure, Arnold has been involved in all the movies to some extent, but not all of them felt like dignified entries. Linda has only been involved in the quality movies, and this is (as they say) the best sequel after T2. She's hardened, nihilistic, and a much needed grounding to make this film feel on par with the first two.

As you watch it, you'll see a few similarities in the plot structure, a few callbacks, and whole lot of action scenes. It'll never have the same impact as the first two movies, but for what it's worth... Terminator: Dark Fate is a very satisfying follow-up that we all longed for. I've basically waited my whole life for a decent sequel to T2, and it only took 'em about 30 years to get it right. Thank God James Cameron was there to oversee the production and help get the tone right, because the past few sequels really botched that.