Terminator: Dark Fate (2019)

T6 aka "Dark Fate" is indeed dark. Despite not being shot in 3D, the luminosity coefficient in some scenes makes you wonder if you should remove some invisible stereoscopic glasses. But that's not the biggest problem. Sorry, spoilers will follow...

All the "Terminator" series, except "Salvation", has pretty much the same story. We have a terminator sent back in time to terminate somebody, and somebody else struggling to stop the killing machine. And despite the repetition factor, the story works. How? Well, we have variation. The first one is man vs machine, the second is machine vs machine where the good machine = the bad machine from the first, the third is Kristanna Loken vs machine, etc, and so on. But variation moves forward than what vs. who/what. We do have a story. And even in this last part we have some story, until we realize it's a bit too much... the same. Linda Hamilton returns from T2, the target is a new Linda as in T1, on the good side we have a sort of a female terminator like in T3, which is actually an enhanced human, almost like in T4, and Schwarzenegger is an aging terminator who started developing something close to feeling (almost) like in T5, and we wrap up with an ending which wants to be a sort of reboot of the metal melting onw in T2 using this time some EMP and electrical discharges, totally stupid and inspiring a feeling of cheap copy - after more than 20 years of VFX evolution. So, we don't have much innovation in the story.

Even so, it wouldn't have been that bad if the production level would've been decent. But we have piles of cliche lines in the script, we have a lot of bad acting/overacting, we have poor camera work, we have an excess of VFX to supplement the lack of narrative material, we have the first situation when the screenwriters were actually lazy to try finding a connection point that would make some sense in relation with the previous production, and they've cut the story and resumed it immediately after T2. Which purpose is canceled from start - John Connor dies, so Skynet would win, but well.. Skynet is not Skynet in the future anymore, it's Legion, and we don't know why Skynet is Legion since John Connor died, but there's no problem, we'll just turn the public's attention to deadly fights in depressurized planes. The idea of an enhanced human protector brings though some original elements, and also Rev. 9 - the evil terminator model, comes with a doppelganger mode, completely inexplicable and not explained, but which looks cool. And of course, there's the old T-800 announcing that this time he'll "not be back" ( pfff... what a way out... :( ).

Rating: 3 out of 5 (= 2+1 - I'm nostalgic and subjective, but the review was objective ;)...)

Terminator Genisys (2015)

"Terminator Genisys" wants to be, but it's not ... "Genesis" (aka "T1 Reloaded" if the hint is too obscure), as well as Jai Courtney is not Michael Biehn, Emilia Clarke is not Linda Hamilton, Byung-hun Lee dies too quickly to be Robert Patrick (yeah, yeah, spoiler .. and yeah, yeah, I know that's in T2), and Schwarzenegger is "old ... but not obsolete" ;).

Coincidence after last time, we have again a movie saved by Arnold. Probably many critics who bashed Terminator Episode 5 won't agree with that, but I'm asking then ... if T5 is so lame, how would it be without even the recycled T-800. I don't want to imagine that ... But, let's get to the point. Why is T5 so bad? Well ... first it's debatable if it's that bad. As in many other case the story is good. The script, however, is horrible. And the casting is awful. To cap it, the trailer gives a twist, which even though it doesn't have a major impact could've been handled more discrete. In brief, the timeline got altered in a way that doesn't deserve killing neurons to figure out and Kyle Reese sent back in time to save Sarah Connor, gets to be "damsel in distress". And, in a conflict that seems picked out of a Greek tragedy, the unborn son, returned in time with metal anatomic parts, gets to be main enemy. As I said, let's not consume neurons. Anyway ... too many spoilers :) (still, the story is quite ok ...)

No matter what the hardcore fans would say, who probably would've preferred a T1 screening for their T5 ticket (I've heard comments claiming the effects were better there .....), the latest version is not that bad. For who's really nostalgic about the first movies, is impossible not to be touched a bit by some remade scenes, well .. evolving differently, but which we've seen for the first time many, many years ago. Starting with the landing back in time, up to more subtle references = landing (more or less ...) a chopper at the new Cyberdyne HQ. And even if this doesn't bring a memory, I've personally never seen a "serious" chopper chase before :) at least for originality it gets a well deserved plus ...

I guess that a bigger problem than the ton of cliche and the periodic stupidity of the script lines is the terrible casting. Jason Clarke is a major disappointment to what I was expecting. Emilia Clarke tries, but she can't be Sarah Connor. The "Mother of Dragons" is not sufficiently rugged as screen presence to offer credibility for a female version of a Che Guevara risen against uncontrolled technical advancements. And Jai Courtney as Kyle Reese ... I didn't think I'll ever get to praise the acting capacity of Michael Biehn, who got mostly obscure secondary parts in his career besides the Cameron collaboration. Speaking about Jai Courtney I remembered about another failed sequel = the latest "Die Hard". And about a big difference ... If Bruce Willis there seemed to just wait to cash in the check and go home .. Arnold here respects the part that defined his career. He enjoys it. And that probably makes him to be pretty much the only actor in the whole cast that doesn't seem miscast. Luckily there's still an ... "I'll be back" :) no matter how dumb is the moment when it's delivered ;) ...

Rating: 3 out of 5