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‘I’ll be back’: Schwarzenegger and Hamilton keep promises in new
‘Terminator’
LOS ANGELES, Oct 30, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – The Terminator has come a long way
since Arnold Schwarzenegger first portrayed the cyborg assassin in James
Cameron’s 1984 sci-fi classic.
“In each movie, the Terminator is a little bit different — there’s a
certain evolution,” Schwarzenegger told AFP.
But the character’s latest incarnation in “Terminator: Dark Fate,” out on
Friday, still comes as a surprise — he is now a drapery salesman.
“The first Terminator was just crushing everything and destroying
everything. The second one was the protector,” said the actor, 72. “Now I
have grown a conscience in this one.”
But fans can rest assured that, even if he has become more human, the
Terminator is a long way from laying down his weapons.
The ingredients that made the original movie and its acclaimed sequel
“Terminator 2: Judgment Day” such hits remain in place — breathless chases,
spectacular shoot-outs and fight scenes laden with state-of-the-art special
effects.
Glossing over the other, poorly received sequels and spin-offs that came
after “T2,” the latest film also reconnects with another key element from the
first two films — Linda Hamilton, more angry than ever in her role as Sarah
Connor.
Most of the film takes place in 2022, but it begins where “Terminator 2”
left off in 1991 — Connor has just prevented the future eradication of the
human race by machines equipped with artificial intelligence known as Skynet.
– ‘You’re just afraid’ –
For Hamilton, the decision to return to this iconic role 28 years later
was not an easy one. She told AFP how she had long since built a comfortable
life for herself away from big Hollywood productions.
“It took me a long time to agree to do it,” she said. “I eventually
started going, ‘You’re just afraid.’
“And when I’m afraid, then I have to do it.”
More than letting down the audience, “I was afraid I was going to
disappoint Sarah Connor,” admitted Hamilton, 63. “All these years I sort of
felt like the first two films were very complete and resisted doing any more,
largely because Jim Cameron wasn’t involved.”
MORE/FI/ 1150 hrs
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Cameron returns not just as a producer for “Dark Fate” but also
participated in writing the script, while Tim Miller (“Deadpool”) directs.
Desperate and aimless, “Sarah Connor is no longer human,” said Hamilton.
“And the Arnold character is more human — I like that flip.”
Anxious not to reveal plot details, Hamilton said that beyond its action
scenes, the film — like its predecessors — is about “what is it that makes
us human.”
– Testosterone –
The film sees Connor find a new raison d’etre in protecting young Dani
Ramos (Natalia Reyes), who is being pursued by the most sophisticated-yet
Terminator from the future (Gabriel Luna).
A human “augmented” by technology and also sent from the future, played by
Mackenzie Davis, is also part of the chase.
For Hamilton, signing back up meant a year of strenuous physical training
— and the even more unpleasant experience of taking testosterone prescribed
by her doctor to help her build muscle.
“There came a day where I was angry about something and I couldn’t sleep
and my blood pressure is spiking and I’m kind of flying off the handle. And,
I’m like, ‘This is the hormones talking,'” Hamilton recalled.
“If this is what it feels like to be a man, forget it!”
Former “Mr Universe” winner Schwarzenegger, who continues to train every
day, had it easier.
“It’s not as if I have to start all over again,” he told AFP.
For him, the main challenge was acting in front of green screens used to
later generate computer-driven special effects.
“It gets a little bit more tedious, because you’re now working a lot of
times with stuff that doesn’t exist,” he said. “So when you have a Hummer fly
towards you, when you’re inside the airplane and you’re crashing, it was
really never there.”
While Schwarzenegger has been repeating “I’ll be back” — his famous line
from the original — since 1984, it is Hamilton who steals the phrase in
“Dark Fate.” But will either of them sign up for more Terminator films?
“If the fans want to see more of me, they will make the voices be heard…
It’s kind of like in politics — the people should decide,” joked the former
governor of California.
“It depends on how this movie performs — it’s a really very expensive
film,” said Hamilton, adding that the film was envisioned as the start of a
new trilogy.
BSS/AFP/FI/ 1152 hrs