The Academy Awards Egostorm

The Academy Awards ceremony is coming up this weekend. I will be avoiding the whole thing like the plague it is, because frankly I would rather crawl through a kilometre of broken glass. But it has been my tradition for some years now to write about how the ceremony should go. Of course it references previous continuity, which I have taken to calling the Kendallverse (good God, I've got continuity), and which means if you haven't read these before, it's probably going to come across as a wee bit confusing. Just consider yourself warned. 

And so here we go...

One hundred forty seven hours before the ceremony begins, fans will be camped out around the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, gushing about who's going to be seen walking down the red carpet this year, who might be a sore loser, and how long past its scheduled time of conclusion the ceremony will actually go. 

At the headquarters of ABC, this year's broadcaster, the network president will be taking calls from the leadership of the Academy in the days running up to the ceremony, griping about the network's insistence on keeping things short and putting yet more categories into the pre-show non televised portion. "Spielberg's calling us assholes, James! When you lose Spielberg, you've lost the audience!"

The ABC President will shrug. "Your point being?" 

 

Two days before the event gets underway, at an undisclosed LA funeral home, the body of Jack Nicholson, who died several years ago at an Oscars, will arrive for the annual embalming treatments. The morticians, all too aware of the specific requirements of Nicholson's will expressly demanding his presence at every Oscars even after his death, will find themselves wondering why Nicholson didn't ask to get cremated.

In an endeavour to prevent Barbra Streisand from coming to the Oscars, the Academy will send an invitation and plane ticket to the home of the egomaniac and tell her that the ceremony has been moved to a new location. In Australia. Taking them by their word, Streisand will immediately board the flight, forgetting her husband at home, and spending the entire twenty three hour flight annoying every other passenger on the plane.

On the morning of the Oscars, the three hosts will meet with producers Will Packer and Shayla Cowan. Regina Hall, Amy Schumer, and Wanda Sykes have been selected to host the events in turns, effectively in three acts. After Packer and Cowan have given their briefing on the hours ahead, Sykes, Schumer, and Hall will disregard the order that they were supposed to go out and do this thing and decide who goes first, second, and last through rock-paper-scissors. The result later in the night will be one-liners that are supposed to be coming from someone else.

Tom Cruise, barred from attending the Oscars by a restraining order, will be engaged with a group of extras, waiters, and washed up sitcom stars in planning his Mission Impossible style infiltration of the theatre. Assembling his motley crew around a table in a poorly lit conference room, he'll be talking about his intentions of skydiving onto the roof of the theatre.

"But I don't like skydiving," Scott Baio will say.

"Shut up, Chachi!"

In the Alberta foothills in Canada, Inspector Lars Ulrich, the legendary Mountie and world's crankiest man, will be in his detachment, feeling content in the knowledge that there is no entertainment reporter in the country tonight, confusing him with that other Lars Ulrich.

Packer and Cowan will meet with the two designated bouncers of the Oscars, Tommy Lee Jones and Marisa Tomei in the hours before the ceremony while the auditorium is being readied. Cowan will stress the importance of keeping good order and not letting speeches go over the time limit. Jones will counter that their contracts specifically state "if they feel like it".

Cowan will ask, "what's that mean?"

Tomei's reply: "you'll find out."

At home getting ready for the big event, Leonardo DiCaprio, still nursing grudges and PTSD from recent years when he's been the subject of a beatdown by Tomei on more than one occasion, will spend hours in front of a mirror, telling himself, "she can't hurt you, she can't hurt you, everyone loves you, everyone loves you..."

John Travolta, at home getting ready for the big evening, will be looking into a mirror and reminding himself, "now don't get anyone's name wrong this  year, are we understood, Joe Tavares?"

The body of Jack Nicholson will be put into his front row seat as stated in his will. The seat fillers who are paid to do that job throughout the ceremony will be paid extra to sit with him throughout and put up with the scent of formaldehyde and whiskey.

Barbra Streisand will arrive at the coordinates noted in her invitation- only to find out that instead of a grand theatre, it's a bar in a dusty one-intersection town in the Australian outback. Her scream of outrage will be heard as far away as Cape Town, South Africa.

The pre-televised ceremony will be taking place. Those categories that are never televised will find themselves joined by other categories new to the little kid's table this year. 

Outside, celebrities will start showing up and spending time on the red carpet talking to the horde of entertainment reporters, most of whom will be asking, "so who are you wearing?"

Tom Cruise and his Mission Infiltration team will board a plane outside LA for their top secret parachute jump. The pilot will be making triple his usual rate, paid in advance by Cruise's assistant, for the irritation of putting up with Cruise for a half hour.

At least one member of the group will be wondering if this is all worth it.

Among the categories in the pre-show will be the Best Original Score category. The winner will walk up to the podium, and start their speech by saying, "First of all, to the individual responsible for shunting us out of the televised portion of the evening: go fuck yourself, James."

At ABC headquarters, the president of the network will be outraged. "Nobody says that to me and lives!" He will storm out of his office.

In the Australian outback, Barbra Streisand will be annoying local Aussies in the bar with her demands. "Do you know who I am? I need to get back to Los Angeles right now!"

On the red carpet, Streisand's husband James Brolin will tell reporters, "actually, I don't know where Barbra is tonight."

Travolta, passing by, will say to no one in particular, "hey, that's Jake Barrett!"

The Mission Infiltration team's flight will run into some nasty headwinds that force them off course. Cruise will yell at the pilot. The pilot will refrain from wanting to punch him in the face.

The celebrities will start filling the auditorium. The encirclement of the body of Jack Nicholson by seat fillers being paid high rates will have been complete. Jack will look like he's sleeping, with his sunglasses on and his tuxedo. No one will want to approach and say hello, knowing he's shuffled off his mortal coil years ago.

Travolta will mutter to himself, "Jimmy Nuthall is really missed by everyone."

Leonardo DiCaprio will arrive with whatever model he's dating this month. Across the auditorium he will see Marisa Tomei and Tommy Lee Jones, who will notice him. Tomei will make a fist and point at him. DiCaprio will tremble.

The ceremony will begin. The first of the three hosts will step out on stage. Packer and Cowan will look at each other. "She was supposed to be third," Packer will say. 

The president of ABC will turn up at the theatre and confront the winner of the Best Score for what was said. The winner will proceed to calmly stand up... and beat the president of the network to a pulp. 

Travolta, watching from his seat, will smile and say, "it's like that character in that boxing movie, Randy Barbossa."

In Australia, patrons of the bar will be contemplating homicidal thoughts as Streisand sings Memory.

DiCaprio will find himself thinking he should have just stayed home.

The pilot of Mission Infiltration, having had managed to turn back against the headwinds and gotten back into LA airspace, will tell Cruise and his team of misfits that they'll be good to go in five minutes. 

"But I'm scared of heights!" Baio will say.

"Shut up, Chachi!" Cruise will tell him again.

The first award of the televised portion of the night will be handed out. The winner will start thanking people, and the orchestra will discreetly attempt to get them to go. "I'm not finished yet," the winner will chide them. It will be the first time of what will be a long night.

Backstage, Sykes, Hall, and Schumer will be having a discussion with Packer and Cowan. "What's this about all of you out of order?" Cowan will demand.

"We decided we'd have more fun this way," Hall will reply.

In Australia, calls will be made from the bar to the local police requesting an immediate removal of that crazy American with the horrible singing voice. 

Cruise and his team of misfits will launch from their plane high over the theatre. The pilot will feel a great sense of relief that his job for the night is done. One of the team will realize he forgot his parachute. Unfortunately it's not Cruise or Scott Baio.

Cruise will be on target descending through the atmosphere, oblivious to the scream of terror passing by hurtling towards the earth. All he'll be focusing on is getting even.

Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga will reprise their having sex on stage musical number from several years ago.

Marisa Tomei will take an opportunity to look up through the seats, catch the eye of DiCaprio, and run a finger across her throat and point at him. DiCaprio will struggle to hold back tears.

Team Mission Infiltration will descend towards the earth. One of them much faster than the rest, hitting terminal velocity and pancaking into the ground down the block from the theatre in a parking lot. Multiple luxury cars will be smeared with blood and what's left of inner organs of a guy who used to wait tables and wait for his big casting opportunity which will now never come.

The rest of the team will have pulled their chutes and will be descending towards the theatre. Scott Baio, having had seen the fall of his colleague, will throw up. The vomit, called a protein spill by the housekeeping staff at the theatre, will hit the red carpet. The wind will shift, sending nearly everyone off course. 

Another member of the team will land on the street four blocks away- directly in front of a street sweeper. He will be crushed underneath its weight, leaving behind a pet hamster at home and no prospects beyond being an also-ran on The Bachelor.

Another member of the team will, in a scene reminiscent of Deadpool 2, be dragged by his parachute into a wood chipper.

Yet another member of the team will end up caught in a tree and get pecked at by angry birds.

And yet another member of the team will drift into the area of a local zoo, landing on an island in the alligator enclosure.

Baio will tumble to the red carpet, landing in his own vomit and throwing up again.

Cruise will hit the roof of the theatre, knocking his head against the wall, and getting knocked out.

Jones and Tomei will receive word of some disturbances outside.

DiCaprio will note their departure and wonder if his stomach will settle and if he'll ever stop being deathly afraid of Marisa Tomei.

Travolta will mutter to himself, "I wonder where Teddy Lou Jackson and Molly Thatcher are going."

The president of ABC will find himself in a hospital, groaning in pain and wondering if it was all that important to keep the running time of the Oscars on schedule after all. One of his aides will inform him that the ceremony is already twenty minutes behind.

In Australia, Barbra Streisand will be given a mild sedative with her coffee and put into a car to return to the airport. The senior responding police officer will consider filing a formal complaint to the American embassy.

Jones and Tomei will find Scott Baio still throwing up outside on the red carpet, with an ever widening gap of people keeping their distance, and housekeeping staff wary of approaching too. "Why'd I have to eat the chili?" Baio will ask no one in between heaves of Exorcist-levels of vomit.

Up on the roof, Cruise will remain unconscious- for the moment.

The ceremony will continue. Winners will be happy. Losers will fume. The running time for the ceremony will be further and further behind.

Leonardo DiCaprio will wonder if maybe tonight's the night when he can storm the stage and make up for his previous mistreatment by ranting at everyone.

Three hours later, the ceremony will still be going on. 

Scott Baio will have been taken to the hospital, crying and still throwing up. He won't be any good giving any answers as to what happened for the next two weeks.

A short distance away, police will be busy at multiple sites of the deaths of skydivers. In one parking lot, one will remark on how stains like that will never come out of a Mercedes.

Tom Cruise will still be unconscious.

In Australia, Barbra Streisand will have been returned to the airport.  She will be complaining and griping about how she was fooled once again by those people to anyone passing by. "Oh, they'll pay! Believe me, they'll pay!"

The March of the Dead will be taking place on a big screen, with footage of actors, directors, and others in the industry who have passed away since the last Oscars being displayed. Those who are well known will be applauded. Cinematographers, on the other hand, will garner a 'who is that' look from the audience. 

Upon seeing William Hurt's face flash on the screen, John Travolta will exclaim, "Hey! I know that guy! Wally Hutchings. I worked with him in that angel film... what was it called? Oh! Marco!"

Tom Cruise will wake up on top of the roof, wonder how long he's been unconscious, and stagger his way to a nearby staircase door. An employee of the facility, who's spent the last seven hours on the roof smoking weed entirely oblivious to the presence of Cruise, will stare at him as he goes through the propped door. "Hey, you can't go in there.... hello?"

In Australia, Barbra Streisand will be screaming at a border official. "Do you know who I am????"

The official will shrug. "Ask me if I care."

Streisand will start screaming even more, and even less intelligibly.

Tom Cruise will find his way through the backstage areas of the building, trying to find his way to the stage. He will stub his toe on a stair and howl in pain.

Leonardo DiCaprio will muster up the courage to stand up during the Best Actor nomination call and start heading down the stairs.

Tommy Lee Jones and Marisa Tomei will see DiCaprio heading down the stairs towards the stage. Despite not being a nominee. Despite not being a presenter. At the same time they will see Tom Cruise stagger out on stage, looking disheveled and slightly unhinged. DiCaprio will be heading right towards the podium at the same time as Cruise. Both Jones and Tomei will start moving, choosing targets.

"Get out of my way, I'm Tom Cruise!" Cruise will say.

"No, you get out of my way, I'm Leonardo DiCaprio," DiCaprio will shoot back.

"You don't get it! The Academy doesn't respect me!" Cruise will insist.

"They don't respect me either! I went years without winning an Oscar, and when I finally won, I got beat up for it!" DiCaprio will say.

In the audience, Glenn Close, who's been nominated many times and never won, but has always taken it graciously, will sigh, shake her head, and tell her daughter, "They're both morons."

John Travolta, watching it all, will mutter to himself, "Ted Crane and Larry DiSaverio don't much like each other."

The argument between Cruise and DiCaprio will be broken up when Jones grabs Cruise by the shoulder, turning him around, and punching him in the face. DiCaprio will start laughing until he feels a tap at his shoulder. Turning around, he'll find himself face to face with Marisa Tomei. She'll give him a deceptively sweet smile before throwing a right hook and hitting him in the nose.

The beatdown of both egomaniacs will continue.

On a plane lifting off from Australian soil, Streisand will be on the phone to her agent, demanding names of the people who fooled her into missing the Oscars. "Don't you tell me you can't find out, Larry! Do you know who you're talking to????"

The ceremony will wrap up, seven hours past its expected time of conclusion. Somewhere in a hospital in LA, the president of ABC will be waking up, sustaining multiple bruises, contusions, and broken ribs after being beaten up by the winner of the Best Original Score. He will wonder where it all went wrong. It will get even worse when he's told how long the ceremonies took to actually finish.

In the same hospital, Tom Cruise will be treated by doctors for broken bones, abrasions, bruises, and a stubbed toe. Police officers will be outside waiting to speak to him about the four individuals in his employment who met horrible ends doing a parachute drop with him into Los Angeles.

Elsewhere in the hospital, Leonardo DiCaprio will be treated by doctors after sustaining multiple injuries. He will be heard crying after his nose has been reset.

"Marisa Tomei broke my nose! Again!"

And Not A Trace Of Jar Jar Binks

“You are nothing. A scavenger girl is no match for the power in me. I am all of the Sith!” – Palpatine

“We’re not alone. Good people will fight if we lead them.” ~ Poe Dameron

“Never underestimate a droid.” ~ Leia Organa

“Rey, some things are stronger than blood. Confronting fear is the destiny of a Jedi. Your destiny. If you don’t face Palpatine, it will mean the end of the Jedi. And the war will be lost.” ~ Luke Skywalker

“People keep telling me they know me. I’m afraid no one does.” ~ Rey

The final chapter of the Skywalker saga has come out, as Star Wars ends one era (or until the studio marketing chimps decide to have another go at it). The Rise Of Skywalker answers some questions, poses others, introduces some new faces into the sci fi epic, and brings back some familiar faces along the way. It’s the ending of an era for the franchise, one with some ups and downs along the way, but in the end an entertaining one.

Picking up quite some time after the events of The Last Jedi, the story starts with the revelation that the late Emperor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid), last seen getting tossed down a shaft on the Death Star, might not be dead, with mysterious broadcasts alluding to his survival. Kylo Ren (Adam Driver), having had killed off his master in the previous film and established himself as the supreme leader of the malevolent First Order, seeks to destroy this interloper from the past, viewing him as a threat to his own place in the galaxy. And so two forces of evil meet, but things take a different route than Kylo might have expected.

Rey (Daisy Ridley), the heroine of these films, is with the rest of the Resistance, hidden away, biding their time. She’s being trained by Leia (Carrie Fisher) in the ways of the Force. Her friends Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) and Finn (John Boyega) are making preparations for the fight yet to come. Familiar faces like Chewbacca (Joonas Suotamo), C-3PO, and the other droids are with them. And it’s not long before the dark menace of the First Order makes its threat plain, and our heroes have to undergo a quest to save the galaxy. Lives will be altered, destinies will be met, and good will confront evil. Lots of light hearted material, in other words.

Director J.J. Abrams returns, having a hand in the script, which is also credited to Chris Terrio, while some story concepts were credited to previously attached director Colin Trevorrow and collaborator Derek Connolly. This being the end of a saga, there’s a lot of unfinished business to deal with, and the story reflects that, sprawling well over two hours, spanning the far reaches of a galaxy. It might be unwise, one expects, in presenting new characters into a crowded universe, though the new characters work quite well, on both sides of the conflict.

The story weaves together themes of destiny, of the struggle between good and evil, between anger and purpose, of friendship and loyalty, and of redemption and ambition. This presents itself in different characters in different ways. While the main players of the story get their share of the narrative, and most of the supporting characters get their due in that respect as well, it’s not always shared. The character Rose (Kelly Marie Tran), introduced in the last film to much dismay by fanboys, seems to come up short in screen time, for instance.

Abrams has long had a pretty good handle on action, and on science fiction, and that shows itself here. He handled The Force Awakens well, and his return to the director’s chair here continues that. The story presents both new worlds and familiar places in different ways (the wreckage of the second Death Star is a particularly vivid and terrifying place, awash in angry seas on the familiar moon of Endor). We see a multitude of new creatures, reminding us that the Star Wars universe has always been a wildly diverse place of aliens, planets, ships, and cultures. The set pieces build on what’s come before; First Order destroyers are familiar to long term fans of the franchise, while the locations that we find our characters in, new or old, feel true to the Star Wars continuity.

It’s a large cast, with some surprising returns, either in person or in voice, as happens at two vital moments in the film. One of the big returns of course is the not so dead Emperor Palpatine, played with relishing menace by Ian McDiarmid. There’s nothing in the character, who’s had a way to cheat his own death, remotely capable of redemption of kindness. Instead it’s all malice, ambition, and ruthlessness, which fits in with what we’ve seen of the character before. Palpatine is pure evil, and that’s the way the actor approaches him.

Richard E. Grant, one of those character actors you see in so many films, plays a new character, a First Order general by the apt name of Pryde. He has a similar sort of personality we’ve seen in Imperial officers from films pasts- the ruthless, cutthroat energy, the sneering contempt fitting his role. Domhnall Gleeson returns as General Hux, still as petulant, arrogant, and condescending as ever. And yet there’s a nice twist involving the character that I liked, one whose motivation still very much fits how the actor has played the role.

I mentioned how Kelly Marie Tran has been largely cast aside in terms of screen time from what she did in the second film. She doesn’t get a lot of screen time as Rose, but the character continues to feel true to what’s come before- the steadfast faith in a cause, the rising to the occasion of someone who might otherwise seem ordinary. Two other actresses get new parts this time out. Naomie Ackie plays Jannah, who has something in common with Finn. She too was once a storm trooper in the First Order, and she too defected. The actress gives the character a wary at first approach, before showing her courage as the story goes along, and she winds up getting a fair amount of screen time. Keri Russell appears (though spends her onscreen time masked) as Zorii Bliss, an old acquaintance of Poe, and there’s clearly some history between them. She’s harder edged, cynical, willing to let the troubles of the galaxy pass by, and something of a scoundrel in her approach to things. Yet like another scoundrel of this franchise, she can’t quite back away from trouble when she finds it. I liked the banter and energy between this character and Poe.

Anthony Daniels has played C-3PO in nine films (ten, when you count the cameo in Rogue One). The droid has often been a whiny, worrisome, neurotic source of humour for the audience, baffled as he finds himself in the midst of galactic conflict, rattling off statistics and telling people how many forms of communication he’s fluent in. He remains the source of humour at times in this film, perpetually worried, and yet one of my favourite moments in the film belongs to the character and the actor: a moment of pure selflessness and heroism that makes you admire him.

Joonas Suotamo took over the role of Chewbacca from the late Peter Mayhew. The Wookiee is a veteran of the Rebellion and now the Resistance, a favourite character for many. With the death of Han in the first film of this trilogy, Chewie has had to move beyond that partnership to work with others more extensively, which we see in this film. The character might growl and be incoherent to us, at least in words, but his actions continue to show him to be the fiercely loyal friend willing to step right into the thick of things.

Billy Dee Williams returns to the franchise as the suave charmer and rogue, General Lando Calrissian. He's older and wiser, something more of a sage, but still with that charming streak to him, loyal to his friends and still a natural leader. The actor makes the best of the opportunity, relating well to the newer characters, and even reminding us of the older bonds with characters he doesn't interact with in this film. One of the great treats of the film is watching Lando and Chewie at the controls of the Millennium Falcon, and the expression Williams has with his character on board the ship: a man who's come home.

Adam Driver has been the primary antagonist in the sequel trilogy, but one with divided loyalties and inner conflicts. His Kylo Ren/ Ben Solo is a tortured, wounded soul, broken and distrustful, deep in the Dark Side of the Force. And yet his journey through this film takes him in new directions and new choices. There are times he lashes out in anger, times he seems lost in himself, and times when he finds his purpose. The actor plays to these elements in his performance, making the character compelling to watch, and ultimately even sympathetic as he struggles between the darkness and the light. We can empathize with him in a way we never could with Heyden Christensen's descending into darkness Anakin Skywalker, and that reflects the talent of the actor.

John Boyega was first introduced to the franchise as a storm trooper with doubts. His role as Finn is an engaging one, as the character has progressed over the films from just trying to run away from it all to ultimately investing himself fully in the just cause of the Resistance. That doesn't mean he can't be distracted- there are times he's more concerned about Rey than about what's happening right in front of him. But for the most part he's grown into the role of a believer, both in the Force and in the cause of the Resistance. That character growth makes him more interesting, and someone the audience can appreciate.

Oscar Isaac has had a good role in the sequel trilogy's new characters as Poe Dameron, the brash and devil-may-care Resistance fighter pilot and commander who chafes at authority but finds himself becoming the authority. The actor balances the character's carefree rogue personality with his increasing awareness that the mantle of leadership is on him, something that's been building through all three films. Poe has his moments of doubt and uncertainty, but brings himself back to lead the path forward despite them. 

To say this was a complicated matter bringing the late Carrie Fisher into the film is an understatement, and yet it works. Abrams made use of unused footage from earlier in the sequel trilogy of Leia with other characters, but the dialogue feels written for this film, as though meant for it. Fisher's Leia is still the resolute, principled leader with a will of iron and a heart filled with empathy and purpose. She's ever wise, leading an effort against a rising evil, dispensing advice as needed, and coming to a crossroads of her own. It turns out to be a poignant final performance from the actress, and a fitting way to go out.

Mark Hamill returns, much as Alec Guinness did before him, as a Force spirit version of Luke Skywalker. It's a cameo appearance this time, but a timely one, as he reaches out to his apprentice Rey when she's at a low point, and gives her purpose and strength. His Luke is at peace, capable of admitting his own errors, and at a point where wisdom has long since replaced the young farm boy looking to the horizon. This is almost certainly the last time the actor will play the role, but it's a fitting finale that brings closure to his own journey, and that of others.

Daisy Ridley has been the protagonist of the sequel trilogy as Rey. Starting out her story as a scavenger in search of herself, the character has grown into someone learning of her own abilities and place in the galaxy. Her journey in this film includes revelations, moments of doubt and anger, and ultimately steadfast resolution and courage in the face of pure evil. The actress makes her role a compelling one, someone the audience can empathize with. She's not a perfect person, but that makes her all the more interesting to watch.

Is The Rise Of Skywalker a perfect film? No. At times it feels a bit too rushed, and there's the sense of one or two characters getting marginalized. It could have easily been expanded to three hours to flesh things out. But the film is an entertaining one, keeping you drawn into the story of these characters against a grand backdrop of a galaxy at war. There are surprising returns, fresh humour, and new characters I did like. All in all though, the film is a fitting way to bring an epic saga to a conclusion.

At least until the studio marketing chimps decide to tell the story of an unrevealed Skywalker grandchild running around on Hoth.

A Dark And Confusing Fate

“Expect a big ping, brother. My whole body’s a weapon.” ~ Rev-9

“Two days ago, I had this nice, simple life. And now it’s a nightmare.” ~ Dani Ramos

“Come with me or you’ll be dead in thirty seconds.” ~ Grace

“I won’t be back.” ~ T-800

“My name is Sarah Connor. August 29^th, 1997 was supposed to be Judgment Day. But I changed the future. Saved 3, 000, 000, 000 lives. Enough of a resume for you?” ~ Sarah Connor

The Terminator franchise has returned to theatres with Terminator: Dark Fate, the sixth in the series and seventh if you include the television series The Sarah Connor Chronicles. It’s deemed a direct sequel to Terminator 2, as everything that’s come after that is now deemed as happening in alternate timelines. Confused yet? You will be. The film reunites Linda Hamilton and Arnold Schwarzenegger, gives us a healthy dose of girl power along the way, brings up the latest in a long line of cybernetic terminator baddies, and even brings back original director James Cameron as a producer. All this under the direction of Tim Miller (Deadpool).

The film opens with a flashback to 1998, years after the events of T2 and the aversion of the end of life as we know it by Sarah Connor (Hamilton), her son John, and a rogue T-800. Sarah and John are living a quiet life, but Skynet sent back more than one Terminator through time before getting annihilated, and one of them, a T-800 (Schwarzenegger), catches up to them. Twenty two years later, another Terminator, designated the Rev-9 (Gabriel Luna), comes back in time to murder Dani Ramos (Natalia Reyes). As before, a protector from the future comes back to defend her. Grace (Mackenzie Davis) is a cybernetic enhanced soldier from 2042, taken in by the adult Dani, a commander of the human Resistance. It’s not long before Grace and Dani come face to face with an older but no less formidable Sarah Connor, and then that same T-800, who has developed a conscience, integrated into society, given himself a name, and even aged.

The Terminator franchise as a whole is a paradox- people from the future coming back into the past to prevent the inevitable. Can timelines be changed? Or as is the case, do multiple timelines spring out of a single moment? It’s a headache when you try to sort out what happened to who in which timeline, and this adds onto the headache. Skynet’s been destroyed, but that doesn’t mean threats from the future are done. This film gives us another AI called Legion, still sending its machines back in time to do its dirty work and stack the deck in its war against humanity. The film rose out of some disappointment in the recent Genisys chapter of the franchise. Producer David Ellison asked Cameron to come back on board in the same role, and recruited Miller as a director. The story chooses to retcon the three sequels that have come since T2 into alternate timelines, and acts instead as a follow up to that film. Multiple writers are involved in this, some with ties to the franchise.

The story starts out creatively, with a shock for the audience. From there it weaves the convoluted paradoxes of time travel and science fiction with good characterization. We see character growth in more than one way, which I liked. It starts with an antagonist who has more personality than others of his kind before. It carries on to a young girl who has no idea what destiny has in store for her when her world comes apart. And it continues to a warrior from the future who is part human and part machine and must reconcile that. Some of the strongest characterization comes from the two leads- a robotic assassin from the future without a purpose who experiences personal growth by having free will and developing a conscience, and a fierce woman who’s suffered tremendous losses and must find her way back to her own humanity. That sense of depth among these characters is a great asset to the film.

Miller has already proven with the first Deadpool movie that he could handle action, and that continues here. There’s more than a fair share of action set pieces in this film, with violence and mayhem and futuristic nightmares come to life. Miller doesn’t get lost in that, which is another good thing. The new angle on the Terminator antagonist Rev-9 and his shifting abilities is rendered well, with the CGI believable. But the CGI serves the story, as opposed to the other way around, a distinction that would be lost on some directors. As the story goes long, it weaves between the themes of hope and despair, redemption and revenge, and the inevitability of what is to come. All while the audience still tries to figure out how convoluted all of that time travel can be.

As I’ve mentioned, it’s the characters who ground the film, and serve as the strongest asset of the film. Gabriel Luna steps in as the latest Terminator antagonist, the Rev-9. I’ve only seen him before in the series Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. as the Ghost Rider. Unlike those who have come before him, the Rev-9 is programmed with more of a personality- this being an asset in infiltration. Rev-9 appears in more than one way, proves to be a formidable adversary, and Luna makes the most of the part, exuding a cold sort of charm that conceals the lethal weapon just lingering under the surface.

Natalia Reyes has a sympathetic role as Dani Ramos, whose world is shattered with the deaths of her family, an attempt on her life, and the revelation that she is meant for greater things in a dark world of war against machines. She rises to the occasion as events go along- not unlike Sarah Connor in the first of the films. Starting as a young woman just getting through her day, she becomes more as the film goes along, and the actress plays to that in a strong way.

Mackenzie Davis has an eclectic resume that includes the recent Blade Runner 2049, and here she gets a lot to do as the warrior from the future sent back to thwart a cybernetic adversary. Grace exists on the edge between human and machine, enhanced with cybernetics to save her life, and able to go toe to toe with a terminator. There’s tension between her and Sarah- understandable, as Sarah distrusts her machine aspects and views her as inexperienced. And interestingly, there’s more of a common bond she has with Schwarzenegger’s T-800, something the actress plays to through the film.

Schwarzenegger himself has been playing this role for awhile (well, several different T-800s, to be precise). But this is something of a new take on the character. In the first film we’ve seen a merciless killer, programmed to come back in time and kill the mother of the leader of the Resistance. In subsequent films we’ve seen a reprogrammed terminator who’s been programmed by others to protect. Here we have a terminator who comes back in time to carry out his programming… and then finds himself cut adrift and in possession of free will. It’s of his own free will that he develops a conscience, comes to terms with the consequences of his actions, learns to be better, and integrates himself into human society, even taking a name. This new take is an intriguing one, as is the tension that exists between he and Sarah, as he knows those consequences are going to catch up with him sooner or later.

It's Linda Hamilton who really owns the film as Sarah Connor. She’s older than when we last saw her, more bitter, angrier, more cynical, but still as fierce a survivor as ever. She has reason to be bitter, and yet still we sympathize with her. We understand what drives her to do what she does. Sarah has spent years on the run, wanted by the law, but has spent that time hunting terminators of one variety or another sent back in time. It’s what she’s had to live for, and her journey through this film is one of coming back to the world, letting herself feel human again, to start to trust- even those she would have reason not to.  Hamilton’s performance is compelling to watch, once again, and is worth the price of admission alone.

I do think that this franchise should have stopped with the third film, Rise Of The Machines. It made sense, even with a bittersweet, dark ending, for the narrative to end there. Subsequent films, including this one, have made the timeline so convoluted that it gives you a headache just trying to figure it all out. And yet taken on its own merits, Dark Fate works better than Genisys, which was nonsensical. Its actors are its best strength, and that really shows itself in how the characters progress as the story goes along.