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Maybe many people will vaguely remember the shock and excitement they felt when they watched "Terminator" for the first time. Although domestic audiences mostly get the experience from video halls or DVD players.
Time flies, and the first two Terminator films directed by James Cameron were released in the distant 1984 and 1991.
Thirty years have passed, and the two "Terminators" are still the classics of science fiction movies in the history of film.
And Arnold Schwarzenegger, who became Hollywood's absolute first-line superstar with the first "Terminator", served as the governor of California, crossed the political and entertainment circles, and is now an old man with gray temples and wrinkled faces. But his classic line "I'll be back" is still popular.
"End 2: Judgment Day" is a rare sequel film that surpasses the previous one.
The story of the future robot warrior T800 played by Schwarzenegger, protecting Sarah Connor and John Connor mother and son, evading the pursuit and fighting with the liquid robot T1000, has made countless boys who have seen the movie dreamed of having it. One such robot, and was fascinated by the plot and cried for it.
With such a classic IP, it is expected and inevitable that the filmmakers will try their best to restart and continue.
It's a pity that Cameron never got involved in this series, so it started from "Terminator 3: The Rise of the Machine" in 2003, "Terminator 2018" in 2009, and "Terminator: Genesis" in 2015, which took more than ten years. After three films, each director is different, and it is even more difficult to reproduce the classics.
The only consolation for fans of the series may be that Schwarzenegger has appeared in every film - although "Terminator 2018" is nothing but a CG reenactment of his youthful face.
It was not until "Terminator: Dark Fate", the return of the real creator of the series, James Cameron, that fans were once again full of expectations for this fading sci-fi classic.
Kashen not only supervised the production, but also participated in the writing of the script, hand-picked by Tim Miller, who is in the limelight due to the success of "Deadpool". In terms of actors, in addition to Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, who played Sarah Connor in the first two films, was invited back.
Hamilton is Kashen's ex-wife, and the two became attached to "The Terminator" and had a daughter after their marriage. She has been away from Hollywood for a long time and is now 63 years old, and Cameron is not less soft and hard.
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If the return of the main creator and actors makes this "Terminator: Dark Fate" claim to be the most orthodox sequel still seems far-fetched, then the character setting and plot development make the word "orthodox" worthy of the name.
The story line is closely linked to "Judgment Day". At the beginning of the film, in the rough quality of the videotape, a young image of Hamilton's Sarah Connor is reproduced on the screen, and a sense of nostalgia arises spontaneously.
Immediately afterwards, Schwarzenegger, who played T800, appeared, and a shot made John Connor Jr. take the lunch. This shot is a direct denial of all the storylines of the three "Terminators" after "Judgment Day".
Movies about time travel always produce paradoxes. In "Judgment Day", the mother and son of Connor, who changed the future, must accept a new arrangement of fate.
As a new reboot of the series, "Dark Fate" chose to retain the essence and core of the first two stories.
There is still a killer robot "Terminator" from the future who hunts down the unborn resistance leader, a future soldier who protects the leader, and a leader who saves himself and grows up during the adventure of being hunted down.
It's just that in "Dark Fate", almost all the main characters are replaced by women.
Grace (Mackenzie Davis), a transformation from the future, and Dany (Natalia Reyes), an ordinary Mexican girl, obviously correspond to Kyle and Sarah Connor in the first part. And if you add the positioning of the elderly Sarah Connor in this film, it is more like the iron triangle of T800, John Connor and Sarah Connor in the second "Judgment Day".
Strong female characters have always been standard in Cameron's works. Sarah Connor in "Judgment Day" was enough to show women's independence and self-improvement in that era.
The fully upgraded female iron triangle of "Dark Fate" makes people feel that Hollywood deliberately caters to feminism. Coupled with the fact that the leader of the resistance army has changed from an American tough guy to a Mexican girl, the meaning of political correctness is even more obvious.
Only the upgraded version of liquid robot REV9 and the supporting role of T800 are still male. One is the villain of the female iron triangle from passive avoidance to active confrontation, and the other is a female protector who acts more as a helper.
Moreover, T800 not only sacrificed himself to protect the Iron Triangle, but also saved a mother and son from domestic violence and lived with them for half their lives before that.
With the awakening of human consciousness, T800 also specifically explained that this has nothing to do with the physical relationship, but more of the support and protection at the spiritual level.
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Dark Fate's story blends the formulas of the first two films, like the series reboot of J.J. Abrams' "Star Wars: The Force Awakens," which is full of shadows from its predecessors.
Although the routine is full, but after watching Linda Hamilton and Arnold Schwarzenegger, who are in their 60s and 70s, cooperate and fight side by side again in "Terminator" for nearly 30 years, this is a sigh of memory and time. It's worth the price.
That classic line in film history was passed down in Sarah Connor's mouth, and T800 became "I won't be back".
The setting of the T800 as a protector in the film is a tribute to the classic image in "Judgment Day". The human name he gave himself, Karl, was similar to the future warrior Kyle in the first part.
In this way, the director made it clear that T800 in Judgment Day is similar to John Connor's father's role.
T800 stared at his old self in front of the mirror, hesitating for a while or not wearing the pair of sunglasses. Likely his new lines, "Dark Fate" will be the 72-year-old Schwarzenegger's finale in the Terminator franchise.
At the end of the film, once again sacrificed his T800 and the last sentence "for John", people can't help but recall the classic picture of his thumbs up when he sacrificed himself in "Judgment Day".
In addition to playing the emotional card, the action scenes of "Dark Fate" are far more exciting and beautiful than the other three sequels.
The liquid metal robot REV9 (played by Gabriel Luna), which is in the same vein as the T1000 in "Judgment Day", has both the mechanical skeleton of the T800 and the liquid metal of the T1000, and can be divided into two parts. Gabriel Luna's performance also graced the role.
Grace, played by Mackenzie Davis, is tall and strong, with short hair, clean play, handsome and fierce. Hamilton's Sarah Connor is old, tough and domineering.
The road truck chase pays homage to the previous work, and the fierce fights of the aircraft Hummer and the sky into the water are also enjoyable to watch.
The Terminator story of the Dark Fate reboot may continue. However, it is still difficult to surpass the classics with only feelings and tricks.
After all, the reason why a classic becomes a classic, in addition to its own groundbreaking story and visual effects, is inseparable from that flourishing golden age.
(This article was originally created by Mr. Stick, Public Account: Mr. Stick, Weibo: Stick Movie)
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