'Terminator Genisys' Review

Terminator Genisys Review:

Reboot Limbo

BY IAN TAN

Poster: Non-spoiler edition

            Upon leaving the cinema, Terminator Genisys left me with mixed feelings. On one hand, I appreciated the thought that went into making this film. On the other, I felt as though the series had run its course, and that this reboot/sequel only emphasized that notion. In addition to that, the fact that Paramount Pictures took tips from The Amazing Spiderman 2 school of trailer-making made me less and less impressed at Genisys’ twist that’s actually a pretty darn good one.

            If you’ve seen any Terminator movie ever, the plot remains as you’d expect it to – where only two words are needed to describe it: destroy Skynet. Of course, new elements are thrown into mix. In this case, ala J.J. Abram’s Star Trek reboot in 2009, it’s an alternate timeline; a new, fresh start for a dying franchise such as this one. For many, it’s convoluted and filled to the brim with plot holes, but for me, most of it worked. I didn’t hate Terminator Genisys. Bite me.

           

In fact, I found myself entertained throughout. The idea of the alternate timeline director Alan Taylor presents in this film is a smart one, with twists and some nostalgic appearances from characters we’ve come to know… and fear. The most impressive of said twists occurs in the first act of the film, featuring scenes from the original The Terminator recreated meticulously by Taylor with the help of some impressive CGI face work. Patrick Lussier and Laeta Kalogridis’ screenplay also captivates and adds to the mythology of the Terminator franchise. Furthermore, the implementation of Skynet in the Genisys storyline and how it fits in thematically with today’s generation is also done cleverly. And if you go into this movie without seeing the second trailer, the film’s major plot twist is something that’ll catch you completely off-guard.

This CG Arnie looks amazing.

                 Don’t get me wrong, the film isn’t without its flaws. Actually, no time travel movie is ever really “flawless”, so that comes to no surprise. The issues I had with the screenplay weren’t too much on the time-traveling mumbo jumbo but more on how the returning characters were reimagined and the way they played off one another. Terminator Genisys' Kyle Reese in particular, is so not Michael Biehn’s Kyle Reese from James Cameron’s T1 and the odd casting of Jai Courtney as the character only makes things worse. Physically, Courtney looks nothing like Kyle Reese. Acting and character wise, he’s nothing like Kyle Reese either. He also lacks that balance of down-to-earth likability and emotional depth that Michael Biehn brought to the character in 1984. Emilia Clarke on the other hand, does a pretty good job at being Sarah Connor despite her relatively small(er) size and younger age compared to Linda Hamilton in T1 and T2. Jason Clarke is alright as John Connor, even though he plays the iconic warrior almost like a cartoon character. Thankfully, and this is something that worried me, Arnold Schwarzenegger is still great as the T-800 (credited as ‘Guardian’ in the film), adding more depth to the role that made him a star and allowing the character to grow (literally and figuratively) naturally. The use of his age is also well knitted into the story on two occasions. The father-daughter like relationship between Sarah and the T-800 has its emotional moments, but it never hits the dramatic notes it strives to achieve. 

John Connor yo.

                On another note, the visual effects in this film that’s not a CGI’d young Arnold Schwarzenegger are rather unimpressive, with some obvious green screen shots during some of the action. I guess that young CGI Arnie must’ve taken up most of the film’s budget. Also, this movie gives Skynet a face, like a literal face, and it doesn’t do the evil computer system any favours. In fact, it makes the antagonistic Skynet seem like a lot less of a threat than it has been before in previous films. Showing less is more sometimes.

Damn...you gotta admit that the CG in T3 looked wayy better than this.

                 On the whole, I can’t recommend Terminator Genisys to everyone. It’s not terribly bad, but it isn’t terribly good either. It’s somewhere in between. There are definitely those who’d rip it apart and hate it, but for me, Genisys was an entertaining albeit uneven sci-fi adventure that sits quite nicely next to James Cameron’s T1 and T2. I think I can see why he endorsed this movie, but if you can’t handle the changes Genisys does to the Terminator timeline, you can always pop in the first two movies on Blu-ray again. I mean, they may be old, but definitely not obsolete.

__________________________________________________________________

Final Verdict

Terminator Genisys gets 7 out of 10 stars – I’m with James Cameron on this one.