Film Review: "Terminator: Dark Fate" (2019).

"Welcome to the Day after Judgment Day." Welcome to Terminator: Dark Fate. This science fiction action film directed by Tim Miller, and written by David Goyer, Justin Rhodes, and Billy Ray. It is the sixth installment in the Terminator franchise and a direct sequel to Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991). More than two decades have passed since Sarah Connor prevented Judgment Day, changed the future, and re-wrote the fate of the human race. Dani Ramos is living a simple life in Mexico City with her brother and father when a highly advanced and deadly new Terminator - a Rev-9 - travels back through time to hunt and kill her. Dani's survival depends on her joining forces with two warriors: Grace, an enhanced super-soldier from the future, and a battle-hardened Sarah Connor. As the Rev-9 ruthlessly destroys everything and everyone in its path on the hunt for Dani, the three are led to a T-800 from Sarah's past that may be their last best hope.

In July 2015, Genisys was eventually released to a disappointing box-office performance. The development of a planned trilogy was ultimately cancelled. Ellison then recruited Cameron to produce a subsequent film with him in hopes of creating a better film. Cameron was intrigued by Ellison's proposal to make the film a direct sequel to Judgment Day, ignoring the events of Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003), Terminator Salvation (2009) and Genisys. Cameron agreed to produce the film on the condition that Arnold Schwarzenegger and Linda Hamilton be involved in it. As producer, Cameron was involved in pre-production and script work. In October 2016, Miller was hired as director. In July, Cameron said that he was working with Ellison to set up a trilogy of films and supervise it. In mid September, Skydance Media confirmed that the film was scheduled for a July 26, 2019 release date. In addition, Schwarzenegger and Hamilton were confirmed to reprise their roles. Miller, Cameron, and Ellison conceived the story with Charles H. Eglee, Josh Friedman, Goyer and Rhodes, whist Goyer and Rhodes were hired to pen the script. In November, Ray was hired to rewrite Goyer's script. By early June 2018, Mackenzie Davis, Natalia Reyes, and Gabriel Luna were cast. At the same time, with a budget of $185 million, principal photography commenced, and wrapped in mid November, under the working title Terminator 6: Phoenix. Filming took place at Origo Film Studios in Budapest, Hungary; Almería, Madrid and Murcia, Spain; Chicago, Illinois; and Los Angeles, California. Cameron was heavily involved during post-production. The film was cut down from two hours and 50 minutes to two hours and eight minutes, based on Cameron's notes. In March 2019, the film's title was announced.

Hamilton and Schwarzenegger reprised their iconic roles beautifully. Schwarzenegger's role was his best since T2. Hamilton made a long overdue and spectacular return. Davis, Reyes, and Luna made fine new additions.

Dark Fate strikes all the right chords, emotionally and narrative-wise, even though it may be extremely derivative of the first two films.

Simon says Terminator: Dark Fate receives:

Also, see my review for Deadpool and Terminator: Genisys.