Terminator: Dark Fate Review Roundup

Days after the first reactions of Terminator: Dark Fate hit social media, the full review embargo [...]

By Adam Barnhardt

Days after the first reactions of Terminator: Dark Fate hit social media, the full review embargo has lifted. Reviews have started surfacing from critics all over the world, with most having a generally positive outlook on the latest film in the Terminator franchise. Throughout, most critics praise the performances of both Linda Hamilton and Mackenzie Davis while, surprisingly enough, one of the biggest criticisms is the film's visual effects and unwarranted nostalgia trips.

The film also marks the first involvement of franchise creator James Cameron since T2. In a previous interview, Cameron suggested Dark Fate could be the first film in a trilogy.

"We spent several weeks breaking story and figuring out what type of story we wanted to tell so we would have something to pitch Linda," Cameron previously told Deadline. "We rolled up our sleeves and started to break out the story and when we got a handle on something we looked at it as a three-film arc, so there is a greater there to be told. If we get fortunate enough to make some money with Dark Fate we know exactly where we can go with the subsequent films."

Keep scrolling to see what critics are saying about the latest Terminator film. Terminator: Dark Fate hits theaters November 1st.

Jill Pantozzi - io9

"Dark Fate will undoubtedly get some negative comparisons to titles like Star Wars: The Force Awakens for towing a bit too close to the nostalgia line but one of the more interesting things it borrows from it (aside from some cute winks to camera) is something becoming more prevalent in storytelling as a whole today: reminding us all we're important. After all, being a hero isn't one size fits all."

Read io9's full review here.

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John DeFore - The Hollywood Reporter

"We're distracted from the staleness of this storyline by sequences that strain awfully hard to dazzle us. One long fight in the back of a falling cargo plane has combatants zipping to and fro in freefall; the next tosses them over a dam in a Humvee, sinks them, and sets robot against robot on the bottom of a lake. By the time the movie's ready to kill its latest-greatest villain, fans have gotten a fine lesson in the perils of sequel-making one-upmanship."

Read THR's full review here.

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Anthony Ha - TechCrunch

"Meanwhile, I'm still a little fuzzy on the details of how Luna's Rev-9 actually works, but it makes for a striking and unsettling visual. The finale, in particular, offers a masterful escalation of jeopardy and destruction, as Rev-9 tears through one environment after another in pursuit of our increasingly desperate heroes — almost convincing you that this time, the Terminator really might be unstoppable."

Read TechCrunch's full review here.

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Haleigh Foutch - Collider

"Dark Fate isn't quite a home run though. Like so many films these days, it's indulgently long and that bloat is particularly noticeable in the third act, when over-extended set-pieces and drawn out resolutions sap the film of its potent energy. The film also treads a little too hard on its messaging at moments, explicitly spelling out some ideas that might be better presented through action than dialogue and hammering a bit too hard on those ideas. But they're minor problems in a film that's an overall jamming good time."

Read Collider's full review here.

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Jim Vejvoda - IGN

"Despite Sarah Connor's previous attempts and sacrifices, humanity's fate is once again at stake — and with it the future of the franchise itself — in Terminator: Dark Fate. Tim Miller's film deftly builds upon what worked in the first two James Cameron-helmed entities while bringing in a new host of characters and circumstances to challenge the course of humankind. While there's definitely some frantic leap-frogging involved in terms of accepting why some characters have evolved the way they did, Terminator: Dark Fate ultimately succeeds in serving as both a suitable closing chapter for the original two films and a possible gateway to exciting new chapters ahead."

Read IGN's full review here.

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Jesse Hassenger - AV Club

"Though Dark Fate gets more engaging as it goes on (an escape from a disabled plane is a low-gravity highlight), its sci-fi ideas mostly amount to a listless skimming of hot-button issues. Detainment at the U.S.-Mexico border is a plot point, Sarah is constantly wary of smartphone tracking, and new enemies derive from "an AI built for cyber-warfare," but no one seems interested in recontextualizing the human/Terminator battle into a contemporary horror. James Cameron has made his much-ballyhooed return to announce that the battle continues, and may continue further, should this adventure prove profitable."

Read AV Club's full review here.

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Darren Franich - Entertainment Weekly

"At least Dark Fate is frequently bad in a funny way, without the dutiful dullness of the last couple sequels. Characters can drive onto a military base and just take an airplane, no questions asked. There are drinkworthy repetitions of the word "Killbox," so much so that it's mandatory to henceforth refer to this movie Terminator: Killbox. Attempts at melodrama come off goofy: When Grace recalls how "Some men killed my dad over a can of peaches," the delivery is so non sequitur that I actually laughed. At times, you can sense Dark Fate just giving up. "What are you doing?" Sarah asks. Grace explains: "Future s—". Accurate."

Read Entertainment Weekly's full review here.

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