Let’s be completely honest here right off the bat. The Terminator series should not still be going. The first two movies are excellent, but past that it’s just been a mixed bag ranging from “bad” to “not too bad.” I seemed to like Terminator 3 and Salvation when they first came out, but I really don’t think back on them very fondly. Then, Genysis was easily the worst of the series, and made me not want another Terminator movie. Once trailers for Dark Fate started to come out, I started seeing all of these remarks on how it was a “return to form” for the series, bringing back James Cameron as executive producer (which people always seem to overestimate the actual role of), and bringing back Linda Hamilton to reprise the role of Sarah Connor. Despite all of this, whenever I saw trailers for the movie…I really wasn’t all that impressed. I just wasn’t excited for this movie. People keep going on about how this is the best of the last four installments, but honestly I don’t really think it’s all that great.

If you’ve been following the storyline of the Terminator series up to this point…well, then, you’re wasting your time. These last few movies have basically been ignoring certain continuities to tell whatever story they feel like telling, to the point where I’m not really sure what’s actually canon anymore after the first two movies. Dark Fate basically only acknowledges Terminator 1 and 2, so don’t feel like you need to have seen the whole series to watch this. Hell, this was actually the first Terminator movie my girlfriend has ever seen, and she wasn’t really lost at all. This is mostly because of the five main characters, three are completely new to this movie. It’s kind of telling its own story.

Still, here’s the basic gist. Following Terminator 2, Sarah and John Connor have successfully prevented Judgment Day, thus defeating Skynet and their rise to power. Despite this, a new Terminator is still sent back in time and successfully kills John Connor as a child…yeah, I know. Now, fast forward to 20 years later (aka our current year), and we suddenly have a new Terminator being sent back in time to kill a new target. Much like in Terminator 2, though, the good guys have also sent back their own killing machine to stop this from happening. Come to think of it, this really does sum up the whole basic plot of the movie, so it’s kind of just a rehash with new skins.

In case you haven’t been able to tell, my biggest problem with this movie is its plot. Dark Fate doesn’t really have a new story worth telling, and so it ends up just feeling like one more round of Terminator. When the movie does go for something grand, it usually ends up falling flat. There’s one plot twist that’s perhaps the most obvious twist I’ve ever seen in a movie. It was to the point where I assumed something about a character was true from the first 15 minutes of the movie, then another character presents the idea of this not being true, but the twist is that it actually is true. I never even assumed an alternate idea was true until the movie presented it, so it was a pretty bad twist to say that the most obvious answer was the big reveal. Anyway, outside of that, there were just a ton of points where I felt like the movie made no sense. It’s the kind of movie that has interesting questions, but doesn’t justify them with satisfying answers. My after-movie discussion with my girlfriend basically just resulted in me talking about all of the things that didn’t make sense to me.

Weirdly enough, despite my huge hang-ups with the story, I otherwise did enjoy the movie. The biggest thing this movie has going for it is its action. That might not seem like enough to justify seeing it, but for me it was at least enough to keep me engaged until the end. Don’t get me wrong, the story immensely drags this movie down to the point where I don’t really have any desire to rewatch it, but for a one-time viewing the action was enough for me to justify the viewing of it. It’s the kind of movie where I basically felt “blahhhhhh” during all of the big story scenes, but when the action kicked in I perked back up again.

So, basic recommendation here is that if you’re into this series purely for the robot vs. robot action, Dark Fate is still worth a watch. If you’re into this series for smart sci-fi storytelling…well, I kind of feel bad for you for making it six movies in to a series that only had an interesting plot in the first two movies. Many people have gone on about how great this movie is for the series, so maybe take my opinion with a grain of salt, but I just didn’t really enjoy it as much as I was hoping to. It’s a popcorn action flick with a weak and convoluted story, basically amounting to be the equivalent of “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom” for 2019. It’s entertaining enough to watch, but don’t go in expecting the next Terminator 2, because it definitely falls short.

3/5