In an age of remakes and sequels, it is no surprise that the Terminator franchise is once again taking over theaters nationwide. A couple weeks ago Jurassic World proved just how powerful an old franchise can be, but would Terminator: Genisys have a similar effect? While I don't think the box office will reflect it, I do find the film to be a worthy entry in the Terminator mythology. I saw both Terminator 3 and 4 in theaters and I was underwhelmed by both. Genisys however left me satisfied and giddy.
Terminator Genisys was released on July 1st, 2015 and stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, Emilia Clarke, Jason Clarke, Jai Courtney, and Matt Smith. The film was directed by Alan Taylor whose previous works include Thor: Dark World, Sopranos, Game of Thrones, and various other television shows. The screenplay was written by Laeta Kalogridis and Patrick Lussier. The screenplay is of course based on characters created by James Cameron. Genisys marks the 4th film in the franchise which also birthed a television show and a ride at Universal Studios. The film had a $155 million budget and was shot mostly in California and Louisiana. Schwarzenegger and James Cameron have both come out publicly supporting the film and calling it a rebirth of the franchise we know and love. The film marks Arnold's first time working with Paramount. The script and ideas in the film were written around his age and as a result you get a rare appearance of Schwarzenegger with NATURAL grey hair. The film was shot over the course of 90 days, not including post production and CGI.
Terminator Genisys tells the story of the seemingly endless battle between the human race and Skynet. Skynet is the evil cyborg organization that creates the terminators. Skynet has served as the main villain of every Terminator film and is the cause of a nuclear holocaust. As usual, this film deals with time travel and efforts to stop the apocalypse from happening. In the film they refer to this event as "Judgment Day". The film seems to completely ignore the events of Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines and Terminator: Salvation, so if you are fans of those films I hope you do not find that disappointing. Both films are considered disappointing by most critics, even Schwarzenegger. It's not surprising they would choose to ignore those films. I find that it actually helps the film, as it gives you less to remember and keep up with.
The film begins by showing John Connor (Jason Clarke) leader of the human resistance, helping a young Kyle Reese. The film highlights how Reese and Connor met, as well as showing the two of them bonding through war with the cyborgs. The film revisits the popular "future war" sequences, so you do get your share of that. I do wish the film could have spent even more time in that time period, but the film would be 3 hours long. Knowing the popularity of sequels now, I wouldn't be surprised if we see a future war sequel. After the backstory of the time travel is explored, you follow Kyle Reese as he travels back into the 80's to save Sarah Connor. Since most Terminator fans have seen the films, they know what is going to happen next. But thanks to the uncertainty that is time, things are totally mixed up and multiple timelines are mixing. It's a big "what if" terminator adventure. Sarah Connor joins up with Kyle Reese to battle the T-1000, T-800, Skynet, and more. The two of them are accompanied by the fan favorite T-800 "Guardian" (Schwarzenegger). Things are just a bit different this time around, as the machine has dawned the role of Sarah Connor's father! Pops Terminator is born and we get to see an entirely different take on the iconic character. The relationship between Sarah (Emilia Clarke) and Pops is quite endearing and adds a nice layer to the story. You find yourself caring about the machine just as much as you did in the second film. The T-800 also has a few noticeable changes this time around. The biggest of which would be his aging. Since the tissue remained on the endoskeleton, it continued to age like human skin would. This leads us to Old Terminator. I actually LOVE this aspect of the film, and i'm so glad they went this direction. It adds a level to the character that is slightly satirical. As if the writers say "hey...look we know Arnie is old, but he is still badass". There is even a scene in which Arnold has problems with his "old joints".
As with most time travel films, the three main characters encounter a slew of mishaps with timelines and "what if" scenarios. It provides a nonstop adrenaline ride through time. You get to see appearances by some of your favorite Terminator characters including the T-1000 (Byung-hun Lee), The Dyson family, and an absolutely stunning CGI incarnation of 80's Schwarzenegger as the Terminator. The CGI is almost flawless in that scene and puts the Salvation CGI Arnold to shame. I was very pleased with the work there. We also get to see Jason Clarke explore a very creepy side of John Connor that we never thought we'd see. He does a great job and brings a truly eerie vibe to the role. I also enjoyed Emilia Clarke as Sarah Connor. I feel like the fans reacted negatively to a lot of the recasts because they are young actors and they are unproven, but this casting was no mistake. Emilia brings bravado to the role of Sarah Connor and in a few cases sounds like a clone of young Hamilton. There are more than a couple shots in the film that reminded me of Hamilton. Jai Courtney as Kyle Reese was serviceable in the role. I didn't love him but I didn't hate him. I found his acting to be better than his performance in the newest Die Hard. He is given a totally different path than the original Kyle Reese, so I think it's best not to compare his performance to that of Biehn's in the original. The last remaining role worth discussing would be J.K. Simmons, hot off the award winning Whiplash. He plays a nerdy cop of some sort that works with Skynet. He is one of the only humans smart enough to figure out that time travel is real, and that the terminators exist. He does a great job and provides some memorable moments. He unfortunately disappears for the latter part of the film, so don't get too excited about his appearance.
One thing about the film I really appreciated was it's bit of commentary. In the near future, it shows a world totally consumed by technology. Not just computers, but it shows most humans glued to some type of Ipad tablet device. It even goes as far as showing doctors, nurses, and mechanics staring at them while working. It's a nice little bit of commentary on the modern society and the direction it is heading in. Connor and Reese even point out the absurdity of it. The film also addresses aging, and doesn't try to hide or ignore Arnie's age. I found myself connecting with Sarah Connor and her relationship to the Terminator as a father. He was getting older and he would try to ignore it, so he would not upset her. It's the father figure role from Terminator 2, revisited in an entirely different way. It finds itself to be almost as effective.
The film does have a few drawbacks, but they are minor. The dialogue seems wooden at first but you can tell the cast grew comfortable with each other as the film progressed. By the end of the film I feel like the characters were really connecting as a family. I was also happy with the way the director and writers handled the time travel. It was quick and fast, but not insulting or brainless. The film even pokes fun at itself by having the characters argue about paradoxes. There are a few moments that rubbed me the wrong way such as Sarah jamming to "I wanna be sedated". Part of me wanted to hear some Guns N' Roses or Dwight Yoakam! Unfortunately a big negative for this film is the soundtrack. The score has some familiar beats at the beginning, but quickly loses its way. The tracks float towards generic action music, and I don't remember any particular beat that stood out. It's a real disappointment as the music is often a strong point of the Terminator films.
Overall I found Terminator Genisys to be an interesting and fun addition to the series. I would definitely rank this film above the likes of Terminator 3 and Salvation. I found the characters to be endearing and well acted. I do feel like it came off a bit hammy at times considering they are playing established characters, but it works. About half way through the film I found myself really liking the old Arnie Terminator. Schwarzenegger really nailed it and is the center of most highlights in this film. I was also pleased with how Matt Smith was used in the film, but since this is a spoiler free review I will not comment further on that. If you're one of the many internet fans worried about the trailers that spoiled plot points, don't fret because there is still plenty of meat on the bone. I found myself surprised with several parts of the film. I would definitely recommend this film. Go into the film expecting to have fun. At the end of the day that's what robots fighting people is all about.
