Sunday nights usually aren’t when early movie screenings happen but the folks behind Terminator: Dark Fate had something up their sleeves. A special screening of Terminator 2: Judgement Day at Alamo Drafthouse was offered for just $5 that included 20 minutes of Dark Fate footage. As the movie is about to begin a special message from the Governator himself Arnold Schwarzenegger and Linda Hamilton appeared on the big screen informing viewers that instead of T2, that they will be watching the entire movie Terminator: Dark Fate. I knew this would be happening ahead of time, so I made sure I brought my Dad along with me since it has been our tradition to watch the Terminator movies together since T3: Rise of the Machines.
Before going to watch Terminator: Dark Fate, throw everything you know and remember from every single Terminator sequel post Judgment Day out the door. The movie opens with an emotional scene with Linda Hamilton’s Sarah Connor that will explain how this a direct sequel to Judgement Day which did hit me in the feels, and it doesn’t take long for the action to kick in. We are quickly introduced to Dani Ramos, played by Natalie Reyes who is the young girl in the trailers that is being protected, along with the iconic time-traveling entrances of the Rev 9, who is a combination of liquid and metal played by Gabriel Luna and the protector of Dani Ramos named Grace played by Mackenzie Davis who is an enhanced/augmented human from the future. The first appearance everyone looked forward to was Sarah Connor’s which received applause from the entire theater.
I was excited that this movie was going to be Rated R which makes it the first Terminator movie since Salvation to receive this rating. It should come to no surprise that we get F/MF bombs throughout the movie and graphic action scenes, since the director of this movie is non-other than Tim Miller of Deadpool. The CGI is very heavy in this movie and you can easily notice some low-quality renderings during the movie which disappointed me since its 2019 and expect polished scenes were CGI is used most.
Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Terminator who goes by Carl in this movie gives us a little twist on the capability of the T-800 unit and don’t worry Arnold is not just doing a cameo, he will be suiting up and joining the long battle! The scenes between Sarah Connor and the T-800 are great and it was a treat to see these two on the big screen again. The rest of the cast does very well and Mackenzie Davis does steal the spotlight in many scenes.
Who knows if this movie will spawn another sequel but I am happy by the way this movie concluded… You can alter the future but you can’t change fate.
I give Terminator Dark Fate an 8/10 and the price of admission is worth it just to see Arnold Schwarzenegger and Linda Hamilton on screen together again.
-SeanTaj, Mayor of Nerdropolis