Terminator: Dark Fate

I am a huge fan of The Terminator (it is one of my very favorite movies from the 1980s).  I used to watch it over and over late at night on HBO and it was one of the first VHS tapes that I owned.  I also really enjoyed Terminator 2: Judgement Day but I found the subsequent sequels to either be forgettable or awful.  When I heard about Terminator: Dark Fate, I was initially very skeptical but I really liked the trailer and, when I heard that James Cameron was involved and that it was a direct sequel to the first two movies, I started to get excited!  Last night, after having our traditional Halloween chili (my family has had chili every year on Halloween since I was a little girl), I went with my sister, brother-in-law, and nephew to see it and, while there is absolutely no reason for this movie to exist, it is completely awesome!   Twenty-two years after Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) defeats the T-1000 and stops the rise of Skynet, another AI called Legion has risen and sends a new Terminator, the Rev-9 (Gabriel Luna), from the year 2042 to kill Danielle "Dani" Ramos (Natalia Reyes).  The Human Resistance sends a cybernetically-enhanced soldier named Grace (Mackenzie Davis) to protect Dani.  In order to stop the Rev-9 (not only can it shape-shift but it can also separate from its metallic skeleton to create two relentless killing machines), Grace reluctantly teams up with Sarah and a rehabilitated T-800 (Arnold Schwarzenegger).  This movie is very derivative of the first two in the franchise but I really didn't care because it was so much fun to see Hamilton and Schwarzenegger reprising these iconic roles and they both give great performances with some fun callbacks that had the audience cheering.  Both my sister and I were literally giggling out loud when Sarah makes her first entrance in an action sequence (she is just so badass).  I also really like both of their character arcs in the story because they are authentic.  Sarah is exactly who you would expect her to be given what she has gone through.  There are a few unexpected twists, including the reason why Dani needs to be protected, that I really liked, as well.  The action sequences are absolutely thrilling, particularly a high-speed chase on a highway in Mexico City and a fight on a military cargo plane.  I think this move has a very satisfying conclusion for Sarah and, while there is the possibility of a sequel, I really hope that there isn't one.  I had so much fun watching this movie and I recommend it to fans of the franchise.