TERMINATOR: GENISYS (2015)

Genre: Science Fiction/Action

Running Length: 2:05

Cast: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Emilia Clarke, Jason Clarke, Jai Courtney, J.K. Simmons, Matt Smith

Director: Alan Taylor

Screenplay: Laeta Kalogridis and Patrick Lussier

TERMINATOR: GENISYS ignores the existence of Terminator 3 and Terminator Salvation, and sets itself up as a direct sequel of The Terminator and T2: Judgement Day. In fact, it follows so closely to the storyline established by James Cameron that some (younger) audience may find it difficult to follow without having seen the earlier installments. Case in point, the guy sitting next to me in the cinema was providing an express back story to his young-ish girlfriend throughout the film. You know this guy was in for a ride when his gf asked him at the start of the movie, "So, Arnold is a robot-ah?" -__-

Sorry, I digressed. 

So, is this movie any good? Sadly, it's pretty bad. I was hoping it to be a "Jurassic World" where it was an updated version for today's generation while keeping the heart of the original intact. Heck, they even threw in a T-1000 in police uniform for nostalgia. But it just didn't work. To be fair, it tries to reboot the franchise by messing up the timelines (think Back to The Future 2) and having a major twist to the origins of the story. However, the more I kept thinking about it, the more headache inducing I became. James Cameron's Terminator series has a sense of realism to it ie. it can happen in today's context. Its memorable action scenes has a sense of clear and present danger; remember the cop shop killing spree and the lorry vs the little dirt bike viaduct chase scene? In GENISYS, the action is so CGI heavy it's boring; everything gets blown up and helicopters can pull 360 degree flips under bridges. Yawn. 

GENISYS is blessed with a diverse cast. Emilia Clarke's Sarah Connor is serviceable and her presence should attract a legion of Game of Thrones fans while former Doctor Who's Matt Smith should bring along his fan base as well. But this is Arnold Schwarzenegger's show through and through. He is the face of the franchise. Without his presence, this movie will be an outright disaster. The best one-liners, the best fight scenes, and even the film's comedy are reserved for Schwarzenegger. The only time this movie entertains is when Ah-nuld is doing his thing. I think the movie could have benefited if the filmmakers took time to weave the theme of predestination paradox into the storyline (A predestination paradox, also called a causal loop, is a paradox of time travel. A time traveler attempting to alter the past, intentionally or not, would only be fulfilling his role in creating history as we know it, not changing it. It's another way of saying whatever has happened was meant to happen. If it's meant to be, it will be)

Rating: 5.5/10

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