Terminator: Dark Fate occurs in the same continuity as Terminator 2: Judgment Daybut its positioning on the timeline is not so simple. Ignoring multiple entries in Terminator franchise schedule, Terminator: Dark Fate it was expected to be a return to basics for the series. While Dark Fate was not as well received as the first two Terminator films, is the one with the highest audience Terminator film since T2. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Linda Hamilton reprise their original roles, with Terminator: Dark Fate introducing new characters.
Terminator: Dark Fate begins similarly to the original film, with a young girl being hunted by a human-looking machine and a powerful fighter coming to save her. The Terminator in Dark Fate It's a formidable combination of the Terminator models from the first and second films. That being said, Dark Fate is very different from both, with time jumps, social commentary and some controversial decisions in the story.
Terminator: Dark Fate takes place 25 years after Terminator 2: Judgment Day
Dark Fate is a legacy sequel to Terminator 2: Judgment Day
THE Terminator 2: Judgment Day The ending shows Sarah Connor finally gaining the trust of her son, John, and leaving with him after the two of them presumably prevented Judgment Day. The film had an alternate ending that showed a much older Sarah watching John and her granddaughter. However, the most ambiguous was conveyed, allowing the events of Terminator: Dark Fate to happen. Terminator: Dark Fate is set 25 years later Terminator 2: Judgment Dayand begins with Sarah and John assuming they are safe in a Guatemalan bar and discovering they are not.
Terminator: Dark Fate shocked audiences by killing John Connor just minutes into the film. As Sarah Connor became an iconic character in Terminator 2: Judgment Day while trying to keep her son safe, John's death revealed that Sarah had failed. This was unpopular with many audiences as it undid the film's upbeat ending. That being said, the decision to kill off John effectively retconned the entire franchise after Terminator 2: Judgment Dayas John was a central character in the sequels. Dark FateHis most controversial death was the catalyst for his plot.
Terminator: Dark Fate ignores all Terminator films released after Judgment Day
Dark Fate ignores Rise Of The Machines, Salvation and Genisys
Dark Fate I restarted the mess Terminator movie timeline after the events of Judgment Day and ignored every other sequel released after it. As John Connor was effectively the most important person in the Terminator universeIt probably would have been weird not to include it Dark Fate without a very good reason. Killing John, whose fight to save the world from machine uprising formed the main plot of all Terminator sequences, allowed Dark Fate to be a more creative film. Without the John-centric plot, Dark Fate could embrace nostalgia while updating an important plot.
|
Terminator films in release order |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Title |
Date |
Rotten Tomatoes Critics Score |
Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score |
|
The Terminator |
1984 |
100% |
89% |
|
Terminator 2: Judgment Day |
1991 |
91% |
95% |
|
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines |
2003 |
70% |
46% |
|
Terminator: Salvation |
2009 |
33% |
53% |
|
Terminator: Genesis |
2015 |
26% |
52% |
|
Terminator: Dark Fate |
2019 |
70% |
82% |
While The Terminator has a perfect 100% critic rating on Rotten Tomatoesit is about a woman destined to give birth to the man who will save humanity from machines. There may be nothing wrong with this concept in general, but the fact that the woman is destined to be the savior rather than give birth to him is generally a much more well-received idea. Dark Fate updated the key point of The Terminatorwith Dani discovering that she is destined to become the future founding commander of the resistance. This sets up a potential sequel with Dani fighting the uprising of the machines.
Terminator: Dark Fate also visits 1995 and 2040
Terminator: Dark Fate has flashbacks and visits the future
Terminator: Dark Fate shows two timelines before the main eventsas well as the 1991 clip Judgment Dayin which Sarah insists that the apocalypse is coming. Dark FateThe film's first time jump is a short one, in which John Connor is killed in Livingston, Guatemala in 1995. The film's other time jump is to the 2040s, where Grace is from. As Grace was considered one of the Terminator best movie characters, it's possible that another Terminator sequel could revisit his timeline before his apparent death in Dark Fate.
One of the biggest problems with a time travel franchise is the fact that it will almost certainly become a paradox. Each new Terminator the film attempted to fix some of the series' plot holeswith varying degrees of success. While Genesis attempted to rewrite the original film (and was criticized for doing so) Terminator: Dark Fate I tried to be a continuation of Terminator 2: Judgment Day.