History YMMV / TerminatorDarkFate

* WTHCastingAgency: The decision to have Enrique Arce and Tristán Ulloa, Spanish actors, playing the Mexicans Vicente and Felipe Ramos, strikes as particularly odd in a film already having several Latin actors and extras.

* ReplacementScrappy: Dani for John Connor for a large part of the fandom. It doesn't help that [[spoiler:John Connor dies at the beginning so she can be the future savior instead]]. Really, there wasn't anything stopping the writers from cutting her out of the story and just having Grace and the Rev-9 racing against each other to see who could affect the future first.

* ContestedSequel: While critics received it about as well as ''[=T3=]'' and much better than any of the other sequels, the film still proved to be controversial with the fanbase, for many of the same reasons as ''Film/Terminator3RiseOfTheMachines'' and ''Film/TerminatorGenisys''. Like the previous sequels, ''Dark Fate'' [[ItsTheSameSoItSucks retreads certain plot points from the first two films]], has a HappyEndingOverride for ''Judgement Day'', completely drops the ScrewDestiny message of that film and instead pushes a YouCantFightFate message by once again declaring that Judgement Day is inevitable, and [[spoiler:suddenly kills off a main character[[note]]Sarah in ''[=T3=]'', John in both ''Genisys'' and this film[[/note]]]].

* ItWasHisSled: [[spoiler: John Connor dies. And his killer isn't too happy about it.]]

** A John Connor who was taught from a very young age that he would be a great military leader, but following the apparently successful events of T2, drifted into middle age as a drunk mess because that future didn't happen. Perhaps they could have found a former child actor who showed great promise and success at an early age only to drift undistinguished into a middle aged mess. Perhaps this John Connor would be forced to deal with this new threat.

* AuthorsSavingThrow: After ''Film/TerminatorSalvation'' and ''Film/TerminatorGenisys'' were criticized for being rated PG-13, Creator/JamesCameron [[https://movieweb.com/terminator-dark-fate-r-rated-james-cameron/ made it official that this film would be rated R, like the]] [[Film/TheTerminator first]] [[Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay two movies]]. Once the film came out in early screenings, the R rating turned out to be in the film's benefit, mostly helping its DarkerAndEdgier tone.

** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LzpjRScImPE The main theme]] of the film itself -- it, of course, being {{Music/Junkie XL}}'s take on the traditional ''Terminator'' theme -- being a composite of the first two films' iterations of the theme[[note]]as with ''T2'' and onward, its main drum beat has five notes (while the first film had six), but also now includes the two extra notes from the first film[[/note]] and incorporating guitar acoustics, giving an undeniable Mexican/western vibe while also sounding more [[TearJerker tragic]] [[UpToEleven than any other version]]; reflecting off of the film's EndOfAnAge status: [[spoiler:with the deaths of John Connor, Skynet, and its Terminators.]]

* FriendlyFandoms: With fans of ''Film/Terminator3RiseOfTheMachines''. They may argue over which film is better, but they generally agree that both films are superior to ''Film/TerminatorSalvation'' and ''Film/TerminatorGenisys''.

** A John Connor who was taught from a very young age that he would be a great military leader, but following the apparently successful events of T2, drifted into middle age as a drunk mess because that future didn't happen. Perhaps they could have found a former child actor who showed great promise and success at an early age only to drift undistinguished into a middle aged mess. Perhaps this John Connor would be forced to deal this new threat.

* FandomRivalry: With fans of ''Film/Terminator3RiseOfTheMachines'' over which is the better (or less bad) sequel to T2.

** The Rev-9 being able to imitate human behavior most effectively of all the killer robots thus far has split audiences between those who think this makes it the most effective infiltrator [[TheyLookJustLikeEveryoneElse in its being unremarkable]] and those who think it removes the UncannyValley factor that made its predecessors disturbing and scary.

* UncannyValley: Possibly intentional. As convincing as the de-aging effects were in the prologue, there's something not quite right about the T-800's face, as if to set him apart from his more heroic predecessors.

* AudienceAlienatingPremise: The film's status as an {{Unreboot}} that ignores ''Rise of the Machines'', ''Salvation'', and ''Genisys'' would suggest that Cameron and Miller understood that these sequels were disliked to varying degrees, but the execution would suggest they didn't understand ''why''. A significant number of people were apathetic or outright put off from this movie due to a combination of factors: increased focus on new characters [[EightDeadlyWords the fanbase didn't care for]], [[ItsTheSameNowItSucks continuing the trend]] of being a HappyEndingOverride for ''Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay'' that made prior sequels reviled, and fans [[IKnewIt correctly predicting]] that [[spoiler:John Connor would be killed off]] before leaks and early release confirmed it. All of these issues are cited by analysts as what contributed to the movie flopping at the box office.

* MagnificentBastard: The [[ScarilyCompetentTracker Rev-9]] is the charismatic amalgamation of past Terminators sent from the alternate future by the supercomputer Legion to kill Danielle "Dani" Ramos before she eventually leads the Resistance against it. Using charm and a personable disposition, Rev-9 first tracks down Dani at the factory she works at after murdering and disguising himself as her father, fights off the augmented human Grace sent to stop him, and uses his separable exoskeleton to doggedly continue pursuit during an extended car chase. Rev-9 then disguises himself as a border patrol agent, gets Dani, Grace, and Sarah Connor arrested when sneaking into America, [[SilverTongue sways agents when he's beeped at a metal detector]], and takes multiple agents out when they try to restrain him. He also uses multiple tactics to continue pursuit in the air and puts up an immense fight against both Grace and the rogue Terminator "Carl" as well. Refusing to relent on his determination in fulfilling his mission, Rev-9 fully proves his own declaration of how "[[ShapeshifterWeapon [his] whole body's a weapon]]".

** Major Dean was criticized for being basically an AssPull needed for the heroes to acquire a weapon against the Rev-9. However, this could have changed completely with just a simple touch: had the character been Danny Dyson, the now adult son of Miles Dyson from ''Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay'', his story would have told itself nicely, as he could have believably grown to become a military tech expert with knowledge of Skynet (a plot point that was actually used in the previous film, ''Film/TerminatorGenisys'', which had its own appearance of an adult Danny and would have featured him further in the planned ''Genisys'' trilogy). The fact that even their names are so similar makes one wonder whether the producers weren't actually considering this idea before they discarded Dyson for a SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute.

* WTHCastingAgency: The decision to have Enrique Arce and Tristán Ulloa, spanish actors, playing the Mexicans Vicente and Felipe Ramos, strikes as particularly odd in a film already having several Latin actors and extras.

** For Spanish-speaking viewers, there's the outlandish fact (though hardly unusual in film industry) that Vicente and Felipe are actually played by ''spanish'' actors trying to fake Mexican accents. While the result is decent enough that it might fool people unaccustomed to hear Mexicans and Spaniards around, it can be thoroughly difficult to take seriously by those who know.

* ItWasHisSled: [[spoiler:John Connor dies at the beginning, and Dani Ramos takes his place as the future hero.]] This was almost guaranteed to be this anyway, as this was a very risky path to take the whole franchise through. Many fans ''and'' detractors of the film were very critical of this.

* WhatAnIdiot: See the [[WhatAnIdiot/{{Terminator}} franchise's page]].

** For Spanish-speaking viewers, there's the outlandish fact (though hardly unusual in film industry) that Vicente and Felipe are actually played by ''European Spanish'' actors trying to fake Mexican accents. While the result is decent enough that it might fool people unaccustomed to hear Mexicans and Spaniards around, it can be thoroughly difficult to take seriously by those who know.

* WTHCastingAgency: The decision to have Enrique Arce and Tristán Ulloa, continental Spanish actors, playing the Mexicans Vicente and Felipe Ramos, strikes as particularly odd in a film already having several Latin actors and extras.

* HarsherInHindsight:
** After the release of ''Film/Alien3'', James Cameron (who directed ''Film/{{Aliens}}''), was one of the parties who berated the film for its HappyEndingOverride and [[spoiler:killing off the characters of Bishop, Newt and Hicks]]. Then this film is released, written and produced by Cameron, and it [[spoiler:begins with a HappyEndingOverride where John Connor is immediately killed off. Which Cameron suggested in the first place!]]
** The film's title of ''Dark Fate'' can seem strangely prophetic, seeing as the film's underwhelming box office returns seems to have killed any likelihood of sequels in the foreseeable future.

** After the release of ''Film/Alien3'', James Cameron (who directed ''Film/{{Aliens}}''), was one of the parties who berated the film for its HappyEndingOverride and killing off the characters of Bishop, Newt and Hicks. Then this film is released, written and produced by Cameron, and it [[spoiler:begins with a HappyEndingOverride where John Connor is immediately killed off. Which Cameron suggested in the first place!]]

* SignatureLine: Carl saying ''I won't be back''. Even people who hated ''Dark Fate'' consider it to be quite a poignant take on the franchise's most famous line.

** Tom Hopper as William Hadrell, a musclebound Resistance fighter during One point of contention was the Future War

* NarmCharm: The shot of [[spoiler:Carl and Rev-9 laying down together as the former does a TakingYouWithMe seems less like a sacrifice and more or less two drunken buddies lounging on the floor. But once you look into it some more, as well as Rev-9's NotSoDifferent statement, they are one of a kind, and the shot showcases how they are {{Foil}}s - Carl is the last remnant of Skynet, Rev-9 is the start of Legion.]]