Terminator: Dark Fate (4½ Stars)

Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton): "I'll be back".

T-800 (Arnold Schwarzenegger): "I won't be back".

These two lines were spoken at different times in the film, casually, as if not meant to hold any significance, but it's obvious to all Terminator fans that they're road-signs for the future of the Terminator franchise.

I didn't realise until I watched the film today that it's not a sequel to "Terminator: Genisys". That film was far from perfect, but it had a lot of good ideas that deserved to be developed in future Terminator films. As it turns out, the film ended with dangling loose ends that will never be resolved, much like the Sarah Connor TV series. So what will Terminator fans have to say to one another when they're sitting drinking beers after a sci-fi convention? "Terminator: Genisys" never happened? It's possible to say that about "Terminator: Salvation", because the events of that film took place in a timeline that's been erased. It would take more than a few intellectual somersaults to give a logical in-universe explanation of how the last two films can exist side-by-side.

"Terminator: Dark Fate" also contradicts "Terminator 3". It begins shortly after "Terminator 2", showing that John Connor was killed while he was still a young teenager, although he appeared as a man in his early twenties in "Terminator 3". Apologists might say that after the assassination attempt in "Terminator 3" failed, another Terminator was sent back further into the past, wiping out the events of "Terminator 3". The problem with that theory is that John Connor was killed by an older Terminator model, so he must have been sent back from an earlier point in time.

As you can see, the whole Terminator franchise is a mess. The only way to make sense of "Terminator: Dark Fate" is to deny that the third, fourth and fifth films – not to mention the television series – ever happened. That's a very shaky foundation for the film.

The film's premise is that "Terminator 2" successfully prevented Judgement Day from happening. As a result, Skynet was never responsible for the takeover of the machines. Instead of that, a similar organisation called Legion launched war on the human race a few years later. This organisation created similar robots and sent them back in time using similar time travel technology. I get a funny feeling in my stomach reading those words as I write them. The premise of "Terminator 3" that Judgement Day was only delayed, not prevented, makes a lot more sense.

Apart from that, the film follows the same basic plot as the first, second, third and fifth films: two beings are sent from the future, one to kill a person, the other to protect him. This leads to the incredible action scenes that we've enjoyed in all the films. The return of Sarah Connor as the Terminator Killer Supreme is welcome. My pulse raced when she appeared to save the day.

Okay, I've rated the film highly as a sequel to "Terminator 2". I'm just begging that they'll get on with the storyline instead of constant rebooting. There's a hint at the end of the film that a sequel will follow. Let's just hope they do it right.