Terminator: Dark Fate

What a pity that this fine film is dying at the box office. It has a surprising dramatic force that most of you will find quite entertaining.

Quite frankly, I fear that Director Tim Miller’s Terminator: Dark Fate is being ignored at the box office because it is a girl powered film. I fear that many men, both young and old, are turned off by women who kick ass and take names.

On top of that, this is the film that rejects elements seen in such films as Hustlers and the upcoming reboot of Charlie’s Angels. While Linda Hamilton recreates her role as Sarah Connor that she brought to the big screen 30 years ago, she is 63 and has the audacity to look like she is 63. Though she is still very attractive, she has courage to accept her age while silently expressing no desire to look like she is 30 again.

Forced again to try to save human race when a new terminator is sent from the future to kill a young woman (Natalia Reyes) who represents the possibility of human survival, Ms. Connor is joined by an enhanced human from the future played magnificently by Mackenzie Davis. The two of them form one of cinemas’ great duos as Ms. Davis’ multiple skills are matched by Ms. Connor’s foul mouth vocabulary and powerful handguns.

Despite their skills and dedication, our women dance on the edge of destruction as they are pursued by a Terminator seemingly impossible to eliminate. Played in memorable fashion by Gabriel Luna, this is a monster who has put mankind on the eve of destruction.

However, it is here that Ms. Connor is forced to reunite with her old antagonist, T-800.   Again played in convincing fashion by Arnold Schwarzenegger, this old Terminator is facing his ending years simply taking care of a mother and child in a remote rural area. While the girls run the show, Ms. Connor has to swallow her pride and seek the help of a Terminator who long ago killed her son.

Though I have noted Ms. Hamilton’s age, this film finds its magic by deploying Schwarzenegger in a fashion that recognizes that he is 72. Though it should be noted that the film has some great special effects, Hamilton is only able to get up off the ground slowly while Schwarzenegger’s statement to his human family, “I won’t be back”, has meaning that you can’t ignore.