After the disappointing reactions to Salvation and Genisys, the upcoming Terminator: Dark Fate marks the third attempt at rebooting the series originated by James Cameron in 1984 in a decade. While the definition of insanity is repeating the same thing over and over again and expecting different results, Tim Miller’s sixth installment does boast something that the franchise hasn’t had since 1991: the involvement of Cameron himself.
Returning to Terminator for the first time since the groundbreaking Judgement Day, James Cameron helped crack the story for Dark Fate and also serves as producer, with his name being heavily-plastered all over the marketing in an attempt to generate interest in yet another entry in the long-running franchise.
Along with Cameron, Linda Hamilton is also welcomed back into the fold for the first time in almost 30 years to reprise her career-defining role as Sarah Connor, and based on a recent interview with Deadpool director Miller, Dark Fate will mark the end of her story once and for all.
“I always looked at it as examining the consequences of the choices she makes. And this movie has a time travel aspect, of course, but all of us kind of faced the same problem where you make decisions in your life that will have big consequences in the future based on the path you pick and the decisions you make, and sometimes you have to make those decisions without a complete understanding of the implications of those decisions. And it’s something, I think, that everybody can relate to, and often, as I’m sure we’ve all experienced, sometimes those decisions don’t work out well. So I think that this movie was about Sarah examining the implications of those decisions.”
While everyone involved has been talking up Terminator: Dark Fate as a return to form for the franchise, it isn’t like we haven’t been here before. Every new movie since 1991 has been heralded as the one to return the series to its place at the top of the pantheon for sci-fi blockbusters, but has only led to disappointment.
The returns of James Cameron and Linda Hamilton have certainly generated plenty of positive buzz about the project, and if Dark Fate is intended to be the final chapter in Sarah Connor’s journey, let’s hope that the movie gives one of the genre’s most iconic heroines the fitting sendoff that she truly deserves.