Save for the first two entries in the Terminator franchise, the rest have been a painful disappointment. Each sequel post-Terminator 2: Judgment Day manages to get further away from what made those films so special. When the marketing started to roll out for Terminator: Dark Fate, the concept of yet another sequel was met with groans or apathy. After the abysmal Genisys, did we really need or want another one? It turns out, we do. Dark Fate breathes new life into the dying franchise by returning to form and delivering the best sequel since T2.

With James Cameron returning to the series he created, in producer and story capacity this time, Dark Fate scraps everything that came after the second film. Linda Hamilton is brought back into the fold as the tough-as-nails Sarah Connor, and so too is Arnold Schwarzenegger as a T-800. As low hanging fruit as that sounds, the slew of screenwriters and director Tim Miller (Deadpool) always manage to avoid taking the obvious shortcuts that would’ve cheapened this sequel.

After a shocking cold open that hooks you immediately, Dark Fate cuts to present-day Mexico City. There we meet Dani Ramos (Natalia Reyes), her family, and the two futuristic warriors that appear in that iconic flash. Grace (Mackenzie Davis) is there to protect Dani, while a Rev-9 (Gabriel Luna) is determined to snuff her out to prevent any human resistance in the future.

You know the drill.

Pictured: Gabriel Luna as the Rev 9; Ectoskeleton, left, and Endoskeleton, right.

Grace isn’t a machine, though, but an augmented human. Super speed and super strength make her a formidable opponent, but the sped-up metabolism leaves her vulnerable, too. As for the Rev-9, well, this new Terminator is a combo of the first film’s T-800 and the second film’s T-1000. As in, it can separate to form two functional killers. Enter Sarah Connor, an extremely experienced and world-weary expert in taking down Terminators. It becomes a trio of fierce women against an insurmountable foe. Schwarzenegger joins the fray, too, but in an unexpected way. For the most part, he’s there to bring the comedic relief.

This new sequel mostly follows the simple formula Cameron laid out in his films. There’s a familiar comfort to that, and sometimes a bit of predictability too. Mostly, though, it gives the characters a chance to shine. Bringing back Sarah Connor was a brilliant move, not just because this franchise soars with her in it, but because Hamilton always brings new depth to the character. Her arc in this film adds a thoughtful emotional complexity, but also an interesting evolution across all three films. Reyes also shines as the chosen one; she proves to have a fierce fortitude to rival that of Connor’s.

It’s Davis, though, who shines the brightest. The ferocious warrior pulls off intricate action sequences with ease, but with all the tender human emotions that endears her to us. That she holds her own and even upstages Hamilton is no small feat.

It’s because of this fantastic trio of leading ladies that this sequel ultimately works so well. It’s through their character journeys and the actors’ performances that we’re caught in the film’s grip from beginning to end. It’s a character-driven story; the narrative never digs too deep into any themes it brings up and instead lets the emotional beats do the heavy lifting. There’s plenty of pulse-pounding action sequences that keep your adrenaline up- this is an action film first and foremost- but they don’t always work; an over the top, midair battle in an aircraft tends to fall into camp territory. The VFX heavy spectacle is sure to rub some the wrong way, and while Luna does an amiable job as the central antagonist, he’s still rather bland compared to Schwarzenegger’s menacing T-800 in the original, or Robert Patrick’s scary T-1000.

In a franchise like this one, to say that Dark Fate is the best sequel since T2 isn’t saying much. The previous three films set the bar low. This sequel properly readjusts that bar; what a pleasant surprise. Going in, expectations were low, but the simplicity of this sequel reminds us of what we originally loved so much about the series. The Terminator series at its best when it focuses on protagonists struggling to survive against impossible odds. A glimmer of hope in humanity’s darkest hour. Thanks to Hamilton, Reyes, and Davis, Dark Fate unleashes a powerful beacon of hope for a once dying franchise.