Terminator Genisys

 The year was 1981. A young film maker by the name of James Cameron had just released his directorial debut film, “Piranha II: The Spawning,” and it was a critical and commercial failure. Nobody thought that a director like him would be able to get another job in Hollywood ever again. Then all of a sudden, in 1984, during the month of October, every single one of those people who doubted him, were eating their words after the release of “The Terminator.”

The film told the story of the futuristic war on Skynet, in a time when the machines reigned supreme, and the human race was fighting back as much as they could. Skynet's best option to take out the rebellion's leader, John Connor, is to send a terminator, namely a T-800 model, to go back in time and assassinate John's mother, Sarah Connor, before the war begins. In response, John sends his second in command, Kyle Reese, back to the past to find Sarah, and stop the T-800.

“The Terminator” not only paved its way to becoming one of the best science fiction films ever made, but one of the greatest films of all time. It pulled Cameron out of the ashes of his already doomed career, showing us his true capabilities, and also brought Arnold Schwarzenegger into more of the mainstream eyes after “Conan the Barbarian.” The film managed to combine action, sci-fi, and horror, into one neat little package that very few films could have done at the time.

It's sequel, “Terminator 2: Judgment Day” released in 1991, features another terminator, sent back in time to hunt John Connor down, while his mother is in custody. The new terminator, the T-1000, is a liquid metal robot unlike any other, and in response, a reprogrammed T-800 is sent back to help John and Sarah, giving them further help to become the warriors that are known in the past and future.

“Terminator 2,” along with Cameron's previous film “Aliens,” are both regarded by many as two of the best sequels ever made. And why shouldn't they? They took their previous counterpart, and made them into the very best intense action films of their respected decade, that featured very powerful female action leads, and iconic creatures that were equally as powerful. While the first “Terminator” may be my favorite, I do agree with everyone that “T2” is the best of the series. It was a fantastic film on several thousand levels.

Then came “Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines”...and boy, was this a misfire. After getting around the fact that James Cameron wasn't attached, this film doesn't try anything new, and just comes off as a rip-off of the last film. John Connor is chased down by a terminator in the past, and a T-800 is sent back to help protect him. The difference? The new terminator, the TX, is a lady terminator, played by the actress who played Bloodrayne, and Sarah Connor wasn't featured in the film. Linda Hamilton actually explained in an interview, that she turned down this movie, because they would kill her off halfway through, without mourning her death, making the character disposable. After that, I'm glad that she didn't come back for this film. Despite it being a success at the box office, and a mass majority of critics liking it, it didn't stick well with me.

Six years later, we got “Terminator Salvation,” directed by McG. This was one that people absolutely hated, calling it a disgrace to the franchise, and not a true “Terminator” film. Personally, I thought the film was pretty good. I mean, it's no masterpiece, but it was definitely better than “Terminator 3.” Instead of getting another film that involves traveling back in time to save the Connors, we got something we haven't gotten yet: a film in the series that entirely takes place during the Skynet war. Yeah, for a film that shows us the war several times in the beginning, we finally have a film dedicated to the battles of said war. I also thought that Anton Yelchin did a very good job at playing a younger Kyle Reese, not letting an ounce of intensity slip out of the character. Michael Biehn would be proud, if you ask me. Hell, I even liked Christian Bale as John Connor, despite the taped rants that were shown later on. Sam Worthington as Marcus Wright, I thought did a pretty good job as well, playing a terminator that helps out the rebellion. My only gripe is that I wished the trailers didn't give that away so quickly, because that just shows you how bad marketing campaigns are getting these days. But overall, “Terminator Salvation” was a good time, being my third favorite of the series.

Plans for a fifth film have been buzzing around years, especially when Arnold announced his return to acting after his term as Governor of California ended. And after appearing in “The Expendables Trilogy,” “The Last Stand,” “Escape Plan,” and “Sabotage,” the chances were higher and it seemed it was going to be a reality...however, something being a reality doesn't always turn out for the better.

This time around, we go right back to the time travel, all the way back to when Kyle Reese is sent back to 1984 to save Sarah Connor. However, once Kyle is there, things are drastically different, as he encounters a T-1000, only to be saved later by Sarah and a T-800, who has been her guardian since she was 9. Hoping to finally put an end to Judgment Day and the war completely, they must then travel to 2017, when a program called Genisys becomes the Skynet they know in the future, only one of their obstacles now is John Connor as a new kind of terminator, the T-3000.

The best way to describe this film is that it's the “Star Trek (2009)” of the “Terminator” series...but done poorly. It's trying to be a reboot, but at the same time be a continuation of the series. But where as “Star Trek (2009)” managed to handle the time travel/alternate reality aspect in a much better light, this one does the exact opposite. There are constant moments that bring up moments that happened in the first film, that it really gets distracting and doesn't make sense, since this takes place in an alternate time-line. If this is an alternate universe, and the events that happened to Sarah Connor in the first film are obsolete, why does she even keep bringing them up? I mean, yeah she had the T-800 to fill her in on events when it was sent back to save her, but who sent the T-800 to begin with? We assume it was John Connor, but the film doesn't make light of that at all. Trust me, there are several other problems that don't make sense in this film, so let's move on.

While the action scenes themselves are fine, the special effects don't impress me that much. They don't look any better than “T2,” which is really pathetic if you ask me. We've been advancing the shit out of technology in film for several decades now, making a big jump with CGI thanks to “T2” and “Jurassic Park,” and yet there are still mainstream blockbusters that don't look any better than that of those from the 90's. The worst effects in the film by far, are with John Connor's regeneration abilities as the T-3000. Seriously, I have seen PlayStation 1 games with better graphics than that!

The casting is incredibly hit and miss here. I mean, Arnold is fine as always as the T-800, so that doesn't bother me, and I was okay with how they explained his aging look in the film. Emilia Clarke did a fine job, playing a young Sarah Connor, even if it was a Linda Hamilton impression. I did find it odd how she did look younger than Linda from the first film, but since it's an alternate timeline, I could let that go. Jason Clarke as John Connor did as good a job as he could, but the way his character was directed wasn't really that appealing. The idea of John being the villain was bold, but the way it was done didn't seem to work.

Then we get to Jai Courtney as Kyle Reese...*sigh*...look, I mean no disrespect to Jai Courtney, I'm sure he's a nice guy in real life, but I just don't think he's a good actor, let alone a good choice to play Kyle Reese. This is the 6^th film in a row that I've seen him in where his performance is just shit. His acting style is so wooden, that it really makes it hard to feel any emotion for the character he's portraying. As John McClane's son in “A Good Day to Die Hard,” he was awful. In “I, Frankenstein,” he was awful. In “Unbroken,” he sucked. In both “Divergent” films, he sucked. And now in “Terminator Genisys,” he was a poorly done Kyle Reese. I mean, I will admit he was better in this, than the others, but that's not much of a compliment. To this day, the only film I've liked him in was “Jack Reacher,” but that's only because his character was SUPPOSED to be an emotionless assassin. I wouldn't mind it if he played a terminator, but as Kyle Reese...it doesn't work. And no, I'm not looking forward to seeing him as Captain Boomerang in “Suicide Squad.”

Did I forget to mention that J.K. Simmons and Matt Smith are in this movie? Yeah, you read that right. The recent Oscar winner, and Doctor Who himself, are in this movie. And what do they do? HARDLY. ANYTHING! Yeah, Simmons helps them out in a couple moments, helping prove Kyle and Sarah's innocence in one scene, but you could have easily cut him out of the film, and it wouldn't have made a difference. He was useless here! This is NOT on my tempo, movie!! And Matt Smith, he plays Skynet, taking over the role previously played by Helena Bonham Carter in “Salvation.” Sure, he has that moment in the Skynet war, turning John into a villain...but that's the only big contribution his character has. The rest of the time, he appears as a hologram, simply saying they're going to lose, but he's not doing anything. Here's an idea: why couldn't he just be the villain? Why couldn't he have just killed John, and then go into the past to stop Kyle and Sarah? Seriously, think about it. He would have been a far more interesting threat, since he was the one who turned John into a terminator to begin with, and could have had his own ARMY of terminators at his disposal right then and there! We've seen what he's capable of, what's to stop him?!

The film was directed by Alan Taylor, the same man who directed “Thor: The Dark World,” which I admit to loving a lot. I don't know if that film was just a fluke, or if he had trouble working with the script, which was written by Laeta Kalogridis and Patrick Lussier. James Cameron said that this film was the true third “Terminator” movie, but I have to disagree with him completely. With how big of a clusterfuck this movie is, I can easily say that this film...is the worst installment of the “Terminator” franchise.

Folks...I really wanted to like this movie. I REALLY wanted this to prove me wrong, and turn out to be a great film, or at the very least decent, but I can't for the life of me recommend seeing it. It answers questions only to raise more of them (too many of which to bring up), the special effects aren't that impressive, the story is all over the place, and the performances are either mixed or just wasted. Do yourself a favor, and don't bother watching this film. There are much better films out in theaters right now that are worth your time, so just go watch those. Or better yet, spend the day watching the first two "Terminator” films and “Salvation.”

Rating: 2/10