Parents' Guide to Terminator: Dark Fate

This sixth Terminator movie erases the events of the previous three (dud) sequels but winds up feeling half-erased itself. It's like a dull, pale, irrelevant carbon copy of a once glorious hit. Not only does Terminator: Dark Fate reunite Hamilton and Arnold Schwarzenegger, but James Cameron produced and contributed to the story (along with about half a dozen other writers). Yet none of them really seems to have a reason to be here, other than to make a few reference-tinged jokes. Their presence actually detracts from the main plot -- that of Grace and Dani -- but even if it didn't, Grace and Dani's story doesn't offer anything new or surprising.

Not even the evil Terminator in Terminator: Dark Fate offers anything new. He recycles the liquid metal idea from Terminator 2: Judgment Day, with one new power that makes no sense: He can separate his skeleton from his skin and be in two places at once. (You'd think the skin would be more vulnerable, but the movie does nothing with this idea.) Director Tim Miller, whose previous work on Deadpool was bright, colorful, and smooth, turns in sludgy, choppy action here, with a dull luster; it's often hard to tell what's going on. There's also a distinct lack of suspense and humor, except for one line in which Schwarzenegger (ironically) declares himself to be "extremely funny."