Caffeinated Clint
When the trailer for “Terminator : Dark Fate” recently hit, my initial reaction was ‘Huh? It looks like a rough draft’. The effects looked dreadfully unfinished, the beats fell flat, and the scale seemed squat. In short, it was underwhelming.
Colour me surprised then when an extended version of the ‘car chase’ sequence that featured so prominently in the trailer played for Comic-Con audiences today and absolutely killed. It was stellar. The effects looked golden, the villain not only threatening but imaginatively constructed, and the plot both thrilling and – as evident by the goose bumps on my arms throughout – stirring and moving. But more on that later.
On hand to assure audiences they were on hand for more than just ‘Terminator 6’ were director Tim Miller and the film’s cast (including Arnold Schwarzenegger and Linda Hamilton). James Cameron, the film’s executive producer, beamed in from New Zealand where he’s shooting the new “Avatar” films. Cameron, who stressed how vital it was to have Schwarzenegger back for the film (and also revealed another returning cast member), said he saw the film three weeks ago and was blown away by it.
Schwarzenegger said he was onboard from the get-go. “I’m addicted to Terminator”, the Austrian bodybuilder turned actor said, noting that the 1984 film is essentially responsible for his movie career.
Miller said what he loves about the ‘Terminator’ universe is that there’s only timeline – so mess something up in the past, and something is changed in the future. In this film, we learn that Sarah’s actions in 1991’s “Terminator 2” have hurt her future. “She’s living with the consequences of that decision and we see how that rolls out 20 years later,” he said.
Hamilton, who took some convincing to come back (Cameron helped sway her decision), knows she’s older and knows she doesn’t have the body she had in “Judgement Day”. But knows she has something new to bring to the character -life experience.
“I can no longer worry about trying to be what I was, because I am so much more than I was. That was the moment I really wanted to be on board with this. The richness of my life experience is only going to enrich the character.”
Schwarzenegger – after taking the piss out of himself by referencing all his classic movie lines and mocking his own accent – threw to the footage.
The footage of the new evil Terminator (Gabriel Luna) chasing a good Terminator (Mackenzie Davis) – who is in fact ‘human’ but with enhancements – the next-would-be saviour (Natalia Reyes) and her brother (Diego Boneta) plays out the same – only with more visual detail and by golly, more surprises. Now, the villain emerging into some sort of liquid form looks less like something produced on iMovie in 2002 and more akin to something we usually expect from producer Cameron. Clearly, they’ve really polished and perfected this footage – something it doesn’t look like Miller had time to do before the trailer was delivered. Now, we see that the villain splits into two – turning from one rogue into two, a fleshy bad guy and a cyborg predator. We also get a look at Linda Hamilton’s introduction as Sarah Connor, which is absolutely fantastic – some effective use of the F bomb, beautiful sound design and power-packed arsenal. It’s an amazing sequence.
There’s also some great moments between Arnold Schwarzenegger’s character ‘Carl’ – who, despite nods to the ‘T2’ sunglasses, isn’t the same t-800 but another version of the same model – and the long-suffering Sarah, that play both compelling and comically. “I’m never gonna call you Carl”, Connor states.
Numerous other quick flashes of action, including footage of ‘Carl’ and Sarah blowing away the villain on the back-end of an aircraft carrier, and a gun-fight with the villain, trapped in a sinking car, were crowd pleasers. Especially great to hear the classic ‘Terminator’ theme used again.
Also playing at the panel, a new featurette – which you can catch below.
“Terminator : Dark Fate” is back on my list of must-see 2019 movies after today’s footage and panel. Well done, all.
