Warning: This article contains spoilers for “Terminator: Dark Fate.”
The newest “Terminator” movie picks up where the 1991 “Terminator 2: Judgement Day” left off. The film exists in a world where “Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines” (2003), “Terminator Salvation” (2009) and “Terminator Genisys” (2015) never existed. Linda Hamilton is back and kicking ass as Sarah Connor and the special effects are definitely more realistic than they were in the early ‘90s. There is one major difference in this film though that I would’ve liked to see play out through the end of the film.
Mackenzie Davis’ character Grace, an augmented human from the future, is sent to protect Natalia Reyes’ character Dani Ramos, a seemingly ordinary factory worker. Dani is led to believe she must be protected because she will give birth to the only man that can stop the apocalypse brought on by machines. Basically, the audience is led to believe Dani is the Sarah Connor of this film.
When the trio of women makes their way to Texas to find someone Grace was told to go to if she needed help who is also the person that sends Sarah a text every time a Terminator falls out of the sky, Grace asks Sarah why she cares about protecting Dani. Sarah replies, “Because I’ve been her”. Sarah protected her son because he would be the one to stop the machines from killing humanity.
Dani believes she needs to stay alive because her future son will save the world, however when the team is facing defeat and trying to keep their hope alive, Grace reveals that’s not why she was sent to protect her. Dani had saved Grace in the future and led the revolution against the machines, not her son. Dani is the one who saves the world.
This is a refreshing spin on the film since it would have otherwise turned into a repeat of Sarah’s life. The three women were doing just fine on their own when they reached a character that was bound to return (because we can’t have a Terminator movie without Arnold Schwarzenegger right?). Schwarzenegger’s character had been living his life as close to humanly possible as a Terminator could get, going by the name Carl and even raising a son.
At the end of the film, Grace sacrifices herself so Dani can use her power source to kill the Terminator that’s been hunting her down, something she could’ve done if Sarah had jumped in to help instead of yelling for Carl. Carl ends up killing the other Terminator by holding Grace’s power source in its head and dying with it. The two badass women Dani and Sarah end up being saved by a man, or man-like machine, instead of saving themselves.
Personally, I would’ve liked to see the girl-power follow through to the end of the film instead of the ending director Tim Miller chose.