Terminator: Dark Fate review — The future is in the hands of three remarkable women and one crotchety old android. What will they do?

The first thing you need to know about Terminator: Dark Fate is that it picks up where the second Terminator movie, 1991’s Terminator 2: Judgement Day, left off. You can forget all about those that came in-between: Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, Terminator Salvation and Terminator Genisys. In Dark Fate land, it’s as if they never happened.

Which is a pretty fine conceit. After all, those we’re leapfrogging over were relatively tepid fare, and I defy anyone to remember exactly what happened in each. Just remember that Dark Fate picks up more than two decades after Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) prevented Judgment Day, re-writing the fate of the human race.

The second thing you need to know about Terminator: Dark Fate is that the Terminators, while extremely threatening and resilient, take a backseat to three powerful women, and it’s a remarkable pleasure to see the fate of the franchise in their hands. Three generations of powerful women grab the reins and take us for a wild and raucous cinematic ride.

First we see Dani Ramos (Natalia Reyes) an innocent teen just looking to work her shift with her brother in an auto factory, and bring home the bacon for her dad. When a particularly pestilent Terminator drops in to kill her, in falls (naked) Grace (Mackenzie Davis, whom I can never get enough of), an enhanced human from the future, to protect Dani. Unbeknownst to Dani, she has a major role to play in the resistance of the future.

And just when it seems Grace’s efforts aren’t quite enough. Sarah Connor races in to take a crack at saving the day. Seeing a super ripped, super capable woman with gray hair in a hero role is reason enough to see the film.

But it takes a village, and that’s where T-800 (Arnold Schwarzenegger) comes into play.

As this motley crew attempts to right the wrongs that threaten the world as we know it, we’re taken on an exciting special effects journey that will dazzle even the most jaded. Regardless of what you do or don’t remember from the first two, this one’s definitely worth a watch.

If, after reading this Terminator: Dark Fate review you’re eager to run to the theater and declare, “I’m back!” get times and tickets at Fandango.com.

Rated R

2 Hours 8 Minutes

Terminator: Dark Fate review — The future is in the hands of three remarkable women and one crotchety old android. What will they do?