JOIN USYet another Terminator movie?
1984, James Cameron released ‘The Terminator’, featuring the evil genocidal AI Skynet, hell-bent on ending the human race by sending one of its foot soldiers back to the past to kill Sarah Connor before John Connor, the prophetic leader of humanity in the future, can be born.
It was a landmark film for special effects and storytelling, dabbling in paradoxes and tropes in a grim fashion, with a message against the idea of self-aware AI, a notion that seems to be coming closer in the modern day with predictive algorithms and self-running machines.
The franchise bore many sequels, most of which danced around the same trope, with only one notable exception in Terminator Salvation, which actually took place in Skynet-ruled Earth.
And although people love themselves a good maniacal AI murder feature, the franchise has very clearly grown stale and tired over the years, with ‘Genisys’ proving that studios really can push franchises into the ground by retconning the past over and over again in the name of profit, even if it completely ruins the timeline and pushes it into a case of terminal inconsistency.
In this maelstrom of terminal inconsistency comes Dark Fate, yet another retcon of the series.
Proving that Fox will not terminate its Terminator, Dark Fate erases the existence of ‘Judgement Day’ and ‘Rise of the Machines’ altogether. Following once again Sarah Connor as she hunts the Terminator to protect the future from a world where Judgement Day never happened and Skynet apparently never rose.
The film follows not John Connor this time, however, but one Dani Ramos, as she is hunted by Gabriel Luna’s Terminator and finds herself protected by Grace, who is either another Terminator reprogrammed by humans or, as she insists, a human who is enhanced to fight Terminators. The two join forces with Sarah Connor and a T-800, played once again by Arnold Schwarzenegger, to stop another Judgement Day.
While on paper, Dark Fate looks to be the second decent entry since Judgement Day, it is yet to be seen if it can actually stand by the side of James Cameron’s classics. Helmed by Tim Miller with an entirely different core creative team, hope does exist that it will not disappoint.
Terminator: Dark Fate opens today in 2D and IMAX.
Terminator Salvation is an actually good entry in the series, regardless of what critics said back then. It gave a fresh and unique take to the series, even though the characters were largely familiar.
Ticket rates may soar
The ticket rates for the film cost between Rs 240 and Rs 450. The manager of a prominent multiplex in the city told Metrolife, “Today is Karnataka Rajyotsava and the tickets may increase or decrease depending on the bookings. We usually increase the rates if it is a long weekend.”
Also in Kannada
Kannada-speaking moviegoers and Terminator fans, rejoice. Dark Fate is also releasing in Kannada alongside the English version.