Terminator: Dark Fate
Was surprised by how much I didn't hate this movie especially when compared to Genisys. Mackenzie Davis turned my opinion around as to whether or not she was the right fit and would even say she stood out the most especially when compared to Arnold and Linda Hamilton. The Rev 9 was an interesting advancement too but I just hate the name. Sounds like he was made off a Mattel assembly line.
What's interesting and infuriating about the Terminator franchise is that it's designed to be ambiguous and open. As Reese said to Sarah in The Terminator "one possible future from your point of view" so every action performed in the present day has a reaction in the future so it makes sense that Skynet no longer exists, judgment day as we knew it didn't happen and life went on. It's a little flaky that Skynet just kept sending T-800s back in time and one eventually killed John even though Skynet of the future no longer existed. Terminator time travel is mired in weird paradoxes at the best of times.
It's also not a stretch to assume the T-800 would be capable of learning from his past either. In Terminator 2, John asks him if he can learn stuff that he hasn't been programmed with to be more human to which the T-800 replied that he has a learning computer and the more contact he has with humans the more he learns so with his goal achieved with no way back it's entirely possible that, over the years, he developed his own interpretation of a conscience for what had happened. There's something there to explore but the delivery of it was more comical than philosophical which is why it's easily the more laughable plot of the movie.
My biggest problem is that they didn't use this opportunity to explore and advance the Terminator franchise. They gave themselves an opening by sneaking it in right after T2 and all they did was put The Termintor and parts of Judgment Day in to a cinematic blender and cranked out something we've already seen in the past. It's really, really strange how in both universes the exact same thing happens! Legion and Skynet, judgment day, cybernetic organisms with human chassis, teleportation and messiah stories.
How this movie needed five story writers and three screen writers is really beyond me although I think I know the answer.
In the end, I think this is it. If they were hoping to spawn a new series of Terminator movies then they have a huge uphill battle when talking budget and whatever the advertising costs are to cover. I can at least give points to Salvation for trying something new in the series whereas this just feels "okay" as its own movie but very weak when compared to the material it's clearly being inspired by which makes it all the worse knowing James Cameron was on board. Again.
As a sci-fi action movie - 5/10
As a Terminator movie - We just cry. You know, when it hurts.