{"id":10774,"date":"2019-11-02T10:58:20","date_gmt":"2019-11-02T17:58:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/?p=10774"},"modified":"2019-11-05T14:40:20","modified_gmt":"2019-11-05T22:40:20","slug":"terminator-dark-fate-review-three-reasons-to-see-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/terminator-dark-fate-review\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;Terminator: Dark Fate&#8217; Review: Three Reasons To See It"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>For those\u00a0Terminator fans left wandering a road paved by lackluster sequels, rest easy knowing\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.atomtickets.com\/movies\/terminator-dark-fate\/194671\"><i>Terminator: Dark Fate<\/i><\/a>\u00a0is the best franchise entry in years. As someone who wouldn\u2019t fry another synapse on\u00a0<i>Salvation\u00a0<\/i>or\u00a0<i>Genisys<\/i>,\u00a0<i>Dark Fate<\/i>\u00a0is leaps and bounds ahead of both time-warp scenarios. Reach outside the cybernetic world James Cameron created and we\u2019re talking about another generic mainstream action churn, but hey, celebratory news is hard to find these days. Why not recognize a small victory?<\/p>\n<p>The last we saw of Sarah Conner, 1997\u2019s \u201cJudgement Day\u201d became a figment of future imaginations thanks to her heroic efforts. Unfortunately, Sarah\u2019s thwarting of Skynet\u2019s uprising merely delayed the inevitable. In a future much like the one Connor once prevented, a new A.I. called \u201cLegion\u201d has decimated humanity. Just like in the past, a single human could be the key to successful resistance so Legion takes no chances. A \u201cRev-9\u201d Terminator (Gabriel Luna) is sent back to present-day Earth with instructions to exterminate Dani Ramos (Natalia Reyes), so the future-survivors send back a hybrid human\/automaton (Grace, played by Mackenzie Davis) as Dani\u2019s bodyguard. Can she protect Dani long enough to (once again) save the future? With a little help from Sarah Conner (Linda Hamilton) and \u201cCarl\u201d aka T-800 (Arnold Schwarzenegger), the odds aren\u2019t their slimmest.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1080\" height=\"608\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/4FhhxFH6I04?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><i>Terminator: Dark Fate<\/i>\u00a0is in theaters nationwide, so let\u2019s cut right to three reasons why you should see this latest installment of mechanized mortal combat.<\/p>\n<h2>1. Mackenzie Davis,\u00a0Y\u2019all<\/h2>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/images.atomtickets.com\/image\/upload\/h_960,q_auto\/v1554420940\/ingestion-images-archive-prod\/archive\/1554420939858_194671_cops_11.jpg\" width=\"1706\" height=\"960\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The girl-gang optics of Tim Miller\u2019s\u00a0<i>Terminator: Dark Fate<\/i>\u00a0road trip are a tremendous look with Mackenzie Davis leading the charge. You wouldn\u2019t peg the Canadian starlet as action-heroine material upon first glances, but Davis is an accentuated standout from the moment she whoops some Mexican police officer booty (while nude). Grace is a human who\u2019s been upgraded with robotic enhancements &#8211;\u00a0superstrength,\u00a0upticked\u00a0agility, etc. &#8211; which allows Davis to be an empathetic but fiery guardian. She\u2019s no slab of muscles and monotone dialogue. Davis\u2019 tomboy appearance (always snatching men\u2019s clothes) and mission-dedicated intensity show a new persona for the undercover badass.<\/p>\n<p>I say this <a href=\"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/everything-you-need-to-know-about-terminator-dark-fate\/\">knowing how both Linda Hamilton and Arnold Schwarzenegger return to the fray<\/a>, but this is Davis\u2019 show. Hamilton plays a jaded, self-medicating Terminator hunter who reconciles tragedies of her past through violence, crackpot conspiracy theories and drinking until she blacks out. Schwarzenegger returns as a T-800 with an adaptive conscience after years of\u00a0orderless\u00a0living, and as comedic relief (with mixed to failed results). Hamilton chews the scenery as many a leathery \u201cveteran\u201d has cussed through and Schwarzenegger does his past-prime T-800 thang &#8211; Natalia Reyes\u2019 Dani a constant beacon of hope &#8211; but Davis is the draw here. An ass-kicking, chain-swinging, legitimate \u201ciron woman\u201d who wears savage beatdowns as a badge of honor.<\/p>\n<h2>2. Lights, Camera,\u00a0Lotsa\u00a0Action!<\/h2>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/images.atomtickets.com\/image\/upload\/h_960,q_auto\/v1554420926\/ingestion-images-archive-prod\/archive\/1554420926002_194671_cops_9.jpg\" width=\"1706\" height=\"960\" \/><\/p>\n<p>In the spirit of mass destruction,<i>\u00a0Terminator: Dark Fate<\/i>\u00a0features enough of the action vehicle James Cameron once drove. Miller is tasked with filming Terminator vs. Strong Terminator warfare in nosediving cargo planes (while aflame), caught in forceful underwater currents, and sometimes on boring Texas soil. When Davis is at her best, Miller\u2019s action packs an altered punch that reduces Luna\u2019s \u201cGabriel\u201d to a puddle of blackish symbiote goo (yes, Luna is basically playing \u201cVenom Terminator\u201d). Luna\u2019s Rev-9 mercilessness via collateral deaths and Davis\u2019 efforts to subdue the soulless robotic beast are the film\u2019s highlight combat moments. Two\u00a0modded-out warriors demolishing their way through humanity until one physically cannot piece themselves back together.<\/p>\n<p>Then again, Miller\u2019s reliance on \u201cdigital Luna\u201d highlights a mainstream action fad I can\u2019t wait to see die: computerizing human characters so they can move faster, jump higher, and go wilder. The negative to all this? Luna\u2019s animated stunt double looks like garbage, somewhere in the realm of an early PS2 cutscene. You\u2019ve got Mackenzie Davis smashing Gabriel Luna into automotive factory equipment, bashing scenery\u00a0<i>Fast &amp; Furious<\/i>\u00a0style, only for Luna to appear as a blurry figure that detracts from visual engagement. I get it. Save on fight choreography planning and actor inclusion, but it\u2019s such a poor representation. You can\u2019t manufacture\u00a0<i>Terminator<\/i>-level excitement through binary codes, which is proven time after time throughout Miller\u2019s murky vision.\u00a0But when it works, it really works.<\/p>\n<h2>3. Back To Basics<\/h2>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/images.atomtickets.com\/image\/upload\/h_960,q_auto\/v1554420913\/ingestion-images-archive-prod\/archive\/1554420913136_194671_cops_7.jpg\" width=\"1706\" height=\"960\" \/><\/p>\n<p>As Grace, Sarah, and \u201cCarl\u201d (lol, gets me every time) stand between Rev-9 and Dani, there\u2019s a momentary high of nostalgia that doesn\u2019t pander, introducing new blood into an existing formula. Essentially,\u00a0<i>Terminator: Dark Fate<\/i>\u00a0is just a rehash of an ongoing protection calculation that\u2019s simplistic and predatory. A Terminator is sent back through time, must hunt a living target who threatens future conquests, and there\u2019s a fight to keep said bounty alive. Nothing crazy, and Miller\u2019s grasp of such rehashing reinvents the idea when allowed to breathe. The fun is in the chase, and by \u201cfun,\u201d I mean \u201cwatching Mackenzie Davis frantically do battle with an unstoppable killbot from the future.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Granted, pandering to past franchise notes isn\u2019t always as effective. T-800\u2019s confession of conscious thought plays into a larger arc that diverts\u00a0timelines in a way that hardly feels earned. Hamilton\u2019s direction of the film towards a more female-centric focus isn\u2019t the feminist swing scripting presumably thinks, given little depth beyond \u201cwhat if heroes, but ladies!\u201d There are problems in\u00a0<i>Terminator: Dark Fate<\/i>\u00a0that stretch far beyond franchise redundancies, but those who\u2019re just praying their favorite beloved and maligned sci-fi franchise will make some form of a comeback, here\u00a0ya\u00a0go! \u201cTerminator\u00a0franchise good\u201d should be enough to either sell or deter you from\u00a0<i>Terminator: Dark Fate<\/i>.\u00a0It&#8217;s not the height reached by <em>Terminator 2: Judgment Day<\/em>, but then, is anything? I&#8217;ll take it.<\/p>\n<p><em>Terminator: Dark Fate<\/em> is in theaters now. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.atomtickets.com\/movies\/terminator-dark-fate\/194671\"><strong>Get tickets here.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For those\u00a0Terminator fans left wandering a road paved by lackluster sequels, rest easy knowing\u00a0Terminator: Dark Fate\u00a0is the best franchise entry in years. As someone who wouldn\u2019t fry another synapse on\u00a0Salvation\u00a0or\u00a0Genisys,\u00a0Dark Fate\u00a0is leaps and bounds ahead of both time-warp scenarios. Reach outside the cybernetic world James Cameron created and we\u2019re talking about another generic mainstream action [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":10775,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[52],"tags":[40,37],"class_list":["post-10774","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-review","tag-featuredpage","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10774","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10774"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10774\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10777,"href":"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10774\/revisions\/10777"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10775"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10774"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10774"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atomtickets.com\/movie-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10774"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}