TERMINATOR: DARK FATE (2019) FILM REVIEW

***

15, 134  Mins

Pulsatingly physical, feminist 'Terminator' movie still lacks substance.

Calling 'Terminator: Dark Fate' (2019) the "third best Terminator movie" sounds like damning it with faint praise considering the creative barrell-scraping quality of every film in the franchise since 'T2: Judgement Day' (1991), but this sixth installment isn't without its shotgun-blasting merits.

A direct sequel to the seminal second film, its Director Tim Miller ('Deadpool' (2016)) brings a sinewy physicality to the action sequences sorely missing from previous outings that largely recycled the CGI carnage that made the 'Transformers' (2007-2017) movies such bores. Refreshingly favouring practical effects, this physical punch is best realised in a bone-crunching car chase that grips you by the lapel and refuses to let go featuring a frenetic combination of freight trucks, diggers and water cannons that leaves viewers positively exhausted within the space of 20 mins.

While the film's plot is hardly revolutionary - involving another Terminator (Gabriel Luna) sent back in time to assasinate the prospective mother of a future resistance fighter - having James Cameron back on producer credits allows him to imbue his classic feminist streak into the explosive proceedings. Linda Hamilton has a gung-ho blast of a time returning as the macho matriarchal Sarah Connor; as does Mackenzie Davis as futuristic soldier Grace. Natalie Reyes is, at first, cast in the most submissive role as mother-to-be Dani, but her character is given plenty of space to grow and expand into a head-strong, no-nonsense heroine that rounds off a trio of terrific female performances that lend this meatheaded male fantasy of a world a welcome dose of girl power.

What this film still lacks which the first two 'Terminator' movies relished is substance. Often mistaken for brainless actioners, its easy to forget the conceptual depth that thrived in Cameron's original vision as it dabbled with time travel and the dangers of investing too much faith in artificial intelligence. This sentiment falls largely by the wayside in 'Dark Fate' which - excluding its inspiring undercurrent of women's liberation - is mostly a perfectly perfunctory collection of extremely well-executed running, jumping and shooting. 

Serviceable then, but hardly the radical reinvention this franchise needs to survive. With hope, it won't be back...
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