Terminator: Dark Fate - Same old story, but is that so bad?

I think it's fair to say that most people (in the sci-fi/action/horror community) loved the original 'Terminator' in 1984.  However, no one was prepared to witness a sequel in 1991 that was actually EVEN BETTER than the original in 'T2 Judgement Day.' With a pedigree like that, the studio must have thought they had a franchise designed to print money.  And it did.  Sort of.  Yet, with all its sequels, it never quite made the dizzy heights of the first two installments.

With 'Terminator: Dark Fate' we now join the story directly after 'T2' (meaning 'Rise of the Machines, Salvation and Genysis' are all now 'redundant' - or possibly now confined to different timelines.  Whatever.  Anyway, the ass-kicking heroine of T2 is back, Sarah Connor.  Yes, she's a lot older now, but then so is Arnold Schwarzenegger and they're both aging as well as they can.  However, a few wrinkles doesn't affect their performances and the true reason any Terminator fan wants to see this film is simply to see the pair back on screen together one last time.

And it's worth the wait.  Arnie doesn't come into the film until about half way through.  I would say that this is a negative, but at least the first half had Linda Hamilton to hold its credibility up.  Then, when the two of them get together, we're truly back in business.

Those who watched Terminator 1/2 will know that the pair (and Sarah's son John Connor) saved the future of mankind from a face of cyborg killers from the future.  And everyone lives happily ever after.  Only they didn't.  For two reasons.  Firstly (and I hope this isn't too much of a spoiler) our beloved 12 year old John Connor (through the magic of de-aging technology) is mercilessly gunned down and murdered.  No matter, as the future has already been changed.  Only it hasn't.  Or at least not that much.

Later, a new artificial intelligent threat known as 'Legion' starts picking up where Skynet left off and sends more Terminators back through time in order to pick off prominent humans.  Luckily for our aware future leaders, the future resistance also sends back a protector for the unlucky target.  So, 'Dark Fate' really is just a rehash of practically every Terminator film that's gone before it (minus 'Salvation').  In fact, you could probably liken every scene in any previous Terminator film to any one in 'Dark Fate.' I know that some people would call this 'homage' while others would say it's purely ripping off a superior film.  Then, of course, the conspiracy theorists will say that the numerous homages to films past is purely to instill a sense of nostalgia in us so that we don't think of 'Dark Fate' too harshly.

I enjoyed it.  Or rather I enjoyed Linda Hamilton and Arnie back together.  Mackenzie Davis is the augmented human sent to protect the young girl destined to save the world and, from what I'd seen of her in the promotional material, I thought I wouldn't like her.  However, I was proved wrong.  She wasn't half as much of a 'Mary Sue' as I thought she'd be.  Also, the new bad Terminator (or 'Rev 9) I think they called him) was okay.  He did look a bit like a man who worked in an Apple store for most of the film, but he was just about threatening enough.  I'd rank him behind Arnie, Robert Patrick, the female one from 'Rise of the Machines' and the other T-1000 from Genysis.

I was enjoying most of it, but the only real 'downside' it had was Natalia Reyes.  She just didn't do it for me as the future leader of mankind (or should it be 'womankind?').  She's supposed to be the new John Connor, i.e. the person who will lead the human race to ultimately fight the machines of the future, yet the actress looked like she belonged in some sort of teen drama.  When she had to hold a gun it practically drawfed her and the lines she was given to say didn't help as they came across as way too corny and forced.

Plus the special effects didn't see that special in places.  When the bad Terminator has to move quickly he jumps are way too fluid to bee believable.  Plus there are some major action set pieces like where a big fight takes place in a giant milatery plane that's crashing down.  Personally, I couldn't tell what was going on in that scene, nor the one that followed straight after where the battle takes place underwater.

Overall, if you're a long term fan of the franchise they you'll get your money's worth simply from having Arnie and Linda back on screen together.  However, it's only really the old characters you'll really care about.  I'd have preferred they kept John Connor alive and he went on the adventure with them.  Really, 'Dark Fate' is just a reboot of T2.  Yeah, there's plenty of 'fan service' for us to enjoy, but ultimately the plot of a 'Terminator' movie hasn't really progressed since 1984 (minus the blip of the under performing 'Salvation.'

7/10 if I woke up on Groundhog Day and had to watch this again, I could live with that