Terminator Genisys

Directed by Alan Taylor. Written by Laeta Kalogridis, Patrick Lussier, James Cameron (characters), and Gale Anne Hurd (characters). Starring Arnold Schwarzenegger (Guardian), Jason Clarke (John Connor), Emilia Clarke (Sarah Connor), Jai Courtney (Kyle Reese).

Bottom-line: If you go in with the right expectations, this new addition to the Terminator franchise is kinda fun and actually it warmed me up to the franchise as a whole.

2/4

If you’ve ever heard of Terminator you can probably guess the plot of Terminator: Genisys. In the late ‘90’s or early ‘00’s, A.I. was born - yadda yadda yadda - Mankind vs. Machines war. The machines discovered a way to time travel so they sent a robot wrapped in human skin back to kill the mother of the guy who saves Mankind from the war so he is never born. The guy’s name is John Connor and his mother’s name is Sarah. The humans followed suit and sent someone back to save her. That was the first Terminator.

In the second one, the machines sent a liquid metal robot to kill John when he was just a kid. The third one was probably the same. The fourth movie in the franchise was set during the war against the machines, and that brings us to the latest film in the franchise.

It seems like a bunch of movies this summer bank on nostalgia to draw in audiences and Terminator Genisys is no exception. The film’s introduction uses fancy graphics to explain the premise of the series. There is a battle sequence while the humans take over the Machines’ time machine and then they send Kyle Reese (Courtney) back in time. Reese’s arrival in 1984 is a reenactment of the first film up until another liquid metal terminator reveals itself. Sarah Connor comes driving in and saves the would-be hero from the future.

I can’t really go into too much detail actually without giving away major plot points but the crux of the movie comes down to the fact that by sending people to the past, it actually changes the future.

I suspect there are two reasons why people will see Terminator Genisys: Arnold and action. Arnold is getting older but the movie finds a way to work that in; the skin around the machine is human skin so it ages. Boom. Done. They also have a running line that’s kind of endearing. “Old…but not obsolete!”

The action is pretty standard. There are lots of explosions and characters are only injured when it is needed for the plot. They withstand car crashes and fist fights and explosions that would maim anyone else but when a random character shoots them in the leg, they’re incapacitated.

Much like the action, everything, be it the graphics, or the dialog, or the plot, is pretty standard. Normally I’d give this type of movie a 1.5/4 because it doesn’t really do anything that other movies can’t do better. The reason I decided on a two was because of the film’s sense of humor. It’s stuff like the ‘old but not obsolete’ line that makes this movie a fun, pleasant experience. After all, by this point in the franchise I shudder to imagine what it would look like if it took itself too seriously.

EDIT: I have half a mind to knock off half a point for the stupid spelling.