The reboot mechanics are not new to the brand Terminator: born in 1984 with a decidedly different concept from that assumed in the sequel (released in 1991) and in subsequent films, already with the last film, Terminator: Genisys, he had tried this approach. In fact, it rewrote some events of the first chapter and brought a new story to the screen, which unfortunately did not stand up to the comparison with previous films. In fact, changing the only thing that had worked over the years was a mistake (paid for with the price of a flop at the box office) and Terminator: Dark Destiny learns from all this in deciding to actually connect to just before the irreparable happened (with Terminator 3 - The Rebel Machines). It must be said immediately that this project stems from the fact that James Cameron, the mastermind behind the first few films, managed to buy back the rights to the film, so that he could restart and at the same time end the film saga. The real question is: after more than 30 years from the release of the first, will he have succeeded?
Team that wins
The plot, quite linear and easy to understand for both fans and newbies (avoiding getting stuck in huge mental turns due to time travel) sees the success of Sarah Connor and her son John in destroying the Cyberdyne Systems, so as to prevent the birth of forever Skynet. The problem with time travel is that by changing the future, the pieces on the board change too: it seems that the danger has returned, this time under the name of Legion, and that he has sent a Terminator, this time called Rev 9, to kill the future of resistance. On this chessboard then old glories and new entries take to the field: we have a fantastic one Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton), an exceptional T-800 (Arnold Schwarzenegger), a young girl in danger named Dani (Natalia Reyes) and a possible salvation for the latter, that is Grace (Mackenzie Davis). To take on the role of the bad Terminator on duty this time there is Gabriel Luna, which together with the whole cast brings to the screen a well-structured interpretation, outside the binary mechanics of the challenge between man and machine, but at the same time faithful to the saga.
The plot goes on for about 2 hours of film, where spectacular actions worthy of the brand will appear inside, obviously, however, seasoned with a simplicity of plot obviously characteristic of the genre. Team that wins doesn't change, and this saying seems to be the source of inspiration both for James Cameron (who wrote the story), for the writers and for the director. Tim Miller (Deadpool). All in all there will be dynamics capable of not hinting at the plot from the beginning, but what will stand out most in the film will certainly be the rewriting of two canons of the genre, which by 2020 can no longer be taken for truth: that it is man, woman or machine, things are not always separable between black and white, and Terminator: Dark Destiny is the spokesperson for this theme under various aspects (but never with the simple aim of politically correct, but more precisely to tell a story capable of to entertain and trap the viewer).
I'll be back (?)
Throwbacks, spectacular actions, self-righteousness pushed beyond belief and a good dose of freebies are what make Terminator: Dark Destiny a perfect film for fans (after the last two), but at the same time they exclude a bit those people who they don't know the saga (we're only talking about the first two films): more than fair, since the staff's goal has always been to take the series, restart it and close it. Unfortunately, however, these two statements conflict a little with each other: if on the one hand it did not seem there was a need to give new life to the plot, given that in any case the script canon followed by the film is very similar to the previous ones, on the other hand the whole film doesn't really close the doors to future films too much. Probably, now that Cameron has the brand in the safe, perhaps the only way to discover new stories will be the Saldapress comics, yet the foundations for a new series of films have been laid, and good too. On the other hand, what we understand from Terminator: Dark Destiny is that the whole narrative of time travel to change the future has a bit tired, to the point that perhaps Terminator: Salvation probably had seen it right in telling the future. (thanks also to the fact that now the technical means allow you to do it really well).
