The Howell’s have now experienced several 4DX films, enough to have an idea of what an enjoyable experience is and is not where the technology is concerned. Terminator: Dark Fate from a purely technological standpoint is certainly more toward the enjoyable end of the spectrum.
The movement is not distracting and not over done to the point that you wish you could just hop of the ride. It also engages you enough to justify the price difference a standard viewing entails. Also unlike some of the other films we’ve viewed using the technology there was a more subdued approach to any air or water blasts and I can’t recall any lights being projected onto the walls during the film.
As for the film, you may or may not have heard by now but this film takes place in a universe where nothing after Judgement Day ever happened. I’m sure the sound guy on Salvation wishes that were true on a different level but that’s a whole different story.
Dark Fate attempts to revise history by completely altering some of the players yet sticking to the same basic story. While I applaud the idea of altering the franchise via an alternate time line, really all they’ve changed here is the character that’s supposed to lead humanity. Everything else feels like someone wanted to remake Terminator but couldn’t get that green lit so they came up with the alternate time line instead.
That’s not to say that the film isn’t enjoyable, it’s perfectly serviceable as a popcorn action flick. I would wager that fans of the franchise however were probably expecting more than that. We did get more Arnold, and more Linda Hamilton and both do as good a job as the story allows them. The film introduces a new Terminator in the form of Gabriel Luna and a cybernetic human in the for of Mackenzie Davis.
They also do the best with the material given. However good their performances may be the film never deviates enough from the original Terminator or takes any real risks with the franchise. That lack of risk or any real change to the story is where Dark Fate really drops the ball. What could have been great is basically rendered just “OK” by it’s own lack of change.
As a family we did enjoy the movie, but not to the level of needing a continuance of the franchise. At the end of the film the machine apocalypse or judgement day is still out there on the horizon. John Connor won’t be the leader the original told us he would be, and judgement day didn’t take place in 1997 but other than those changes the story remains the same.
That to me is the biggest problem with the Terminator franchise, as long as Skynet or Legion or whatever else they rename it is in the possible future everything remains the same. Only the names and players change. Although an enjoyable action film, Dark Fate doesn’t do enough to move the franchise forward or in a any kind of different direction to warrant any further investment.
