Terminator Genisys

Terminator: Genisys is the recent attempt to reboot a franchise that has earning power is in need of a reboot due to the decline of the previous attempts. This installment is a means to rewrite the Terminator franchise events in hopes to launch a new take on the series. Unfortunately, there were factors that cannot be overlooked that led to the dismissal of the revival.

Skynet has taken over the future and with the resistance led by John Connor, they send back Kyle Reese to the past in order to protect Sarah Connor to ensure the birth of John. When Reese arrives in the past, he’s in for a surprise – the terminator he was sent to destroy has been dismantled by another terminator who has been protecting Sarah Connor, and a new kind of terminator was after them. Not to mention, Sarah knows of their existence and is already working to stop Skynet. 

I was mildly excited for the remake, it’s a popular franchise and maybe it did need a bit of a facelift. However, the trailer has shown the entire movie’s premise (including spoilers) in the minutes it was running, thus reducing that already mild excitement in seeing this in theaters. Word got out that this was so bad, but it still seemed like a harmless action flick. 

I think it started in a good place. The direction of the plot was there, and elements were present that could have worked to the franchise’s advantage. The execution was how its concept was muddled up. It succeeded in rewriting the franchise history, but after things end, it works as a standalone movie, not a franchise-starting one. It has also done away with a terminator that didn’t have any speaking lines (and who could have been used as the ultimate villain). The movie also provided some information that could pose a question for the lead characters – why destroy the facility? Why not go directly to the source, the brain behind the whole Skynet project? While the movie’s purpose is to reboot the franchise, it could have added more content that could make it smarter, or thrilling, or take the franchise in a new direction (or at least choose a different manner of steering the plot). 

The run time plays to their disadvantage. Stunts and scenes were beginning to get repetitive, and by the time the end was beginning to roll in, the movie has lost most of my attention. Character-wise, I think everyone was a bit different to the original characters. I don’t remember much from the original movie, but I liked how Emilia Clarke and Jai Courtney portrayed their characters, though I’m not really interested on what happens to the characters after this movie. 

This franchise had the potential to boom, or to be great. The remake falls flat, with its long run time, loose content and poor execution, filing this under ‘forgettable’.

Cast: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jason Clarke, Emilia Clarke

Director: Alan Taylor

Year: 2015