Terminator Genisys (2015) - Theatrical Review

Director: Alan Taylor

Cast: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jai Courtney, Emilia Clarke, Jason Clarke, Matt Smith

Country: United States

Rating: PG-13

Run Time: 126 Minutes

When I recently reviewed Terminator 3, I declared it to be the worst Terminator film to date. I now might have to redact that statement though because I just saw Terminator Genisys and it sucked the big one. Terminator Genisys is one of the most overly complicated and boring science fiction films that I have seen to date. This film leaves so many questions and disregards so many franchise consistencies that it boggled my mind at points. I cannot believe that James Cameron of all people gave this film his approval and declared it "the true third film in the series." I wonder how much money Paramount paid him in order to give the film his blessing, because it most certainly does not get mine.

Terminator Genisys comes from Alan Taylor, the director of the bland Thor: The Dark World, and screenwriters Laeta Kalogridis and Patrick Lussier, responsible for such great films as Pathfinder and Dracula 2000. I hope you sense my sarcasm on that last one, because Terminator Genisys was essentially placed into the hands of a bunch of artists who craft schlock, not legitimate and thematic science fiction cinema. These writers' and director's pedigree shows, as Terminator Genisys is nothing but computer generated garbage and studio notes from start to finish. My heart goes out to all of the die hard Terminator fans like myself who saw this film out of loyalty to the franchise and left with a hole in their chest thanks to Alan Taylor's punch of death.

Back again...to disappoint.

I guess I should summarize the plot before I go any further, or at least try my best to summarize the plot, because what plot is there? Terminator Genisys completely disregards the ending of T2 and the entirety of both T3 and T4. The film picks up in a post apocalyptic future where SkyNet took over the world in 1997. However, John Connor has finally led the resistance to victory and crushed SkyNet for good. Unfortunately, SkyNet sends a Terminator through a time machine and yada yada yada you know this. Genisys doesn't start changing things up until Kyle Reese (Jai Courtney) is sent back in time to 1984. Upon his arrival, he discovers that the time line has been completely altered and that Sarah Connor (Emilia Clarke) already has a guardian, an aged T-800 (Arnold Schwarzenegger) who was sent to protect her in 1973. After dealing with both the evil T-800 and T-1000 (Byung Hun Lee), Kyle and friends realize that they must go forward in time to 2017 in order to stop a new threat, Genisys (which is essentially SkyNet but under a different name).

One of the biggest problems that I have with Genisys is that the film cannot decide whether or not it wants to be a reboot or a sequel to the Cameron films. Genisys is more of a greatest hits collection of Terminator moments than it is anything else. The first third of the film is anything but new, as we see characters and events from T1 and T2 pop up. Post apocalyptic future? Check. Time machine? Check. The T-800 going back in time to 1984? Check. The T-1000 getting shot and reforming into liquid metal? Check. "Come with me if you want to live!"? Check. It's all here.

It honestly takes a good hour before Genisys becomes a true reboot and ditches the previous Terminator films altogether. However, if I had to specify what Genisys is, I would call it a reboot-quel, a film that sort of acts as a sequel to other films but reboots the series at the same time with new actors and a new time line. Genisys' own identity as a film is about as complicated as its own plot. You could also call Genisys a Terminator fan film, as it literally combines as many elements from the Terminator franchise as possible while pretending to be fresh and new. It just seems like a real film because it has a $150 million budget and stars Arnold Schwarzenegger. 

Alright! Practical T-800's are b...oh no.

I also have a major issue with the film's casting. Even though every single character has been recast, the T-800 is still played by Arnold Schwarzenegger. What gives? Why does Arnold get to return but everyone else has to be recast. This qualm plays into my other problem regarding the film's status as a reboot and a sequel. If this film were a true reboot, than every single actor would have been recast, including Arnold. However, Arnold's inclusion strengthens the film's status as a sequel that much more.

Even though every actor assigned to each classic role does fine work, they unfortunately have to work with a painfully bad screenplay. Every character interaction is utterly forced and in no way natural or organic. The "romance" between Sarah Connor and Kyle Reese is especially bad. Fortunately, Arnold Schwarzenegger, J.K. Simmons, and Byung Hun Lee shine the best out of anybody. Both Arnold and Byung Hun Lee (A Bittersweet Life, G.I. Joe: Retaliation) play emotionless characters, so their roles are mostly physical and silent. Plus, both actors are bad ass action stars, so it's nice to have two bad asses amongst an otherwise tame film. J.K. Simmons on the other hand plays one of the few new characters, Detective O'Brien, who happened to be saved by Kyle and Sarah back in 1984. His character, a kind and helpful detective, is the only shining light in the entire film.

Genisys is a tad more thematic than Terminator 3 at least, I can give it that. However, the film's attempt at being relevant and thematic is simply chuckle worthy. Genisys is the second film this year, the other being Kingsman: The Secret Service, to utilize society's anticipation for a new app or piece of technology as the villain's tool for taking over the world. The film plays off this Genisys operating system, one that connects our phones with all of the rest of our technology, as if it were a brand new thing in 2017. However, many of our devices in 2015 are already connected with one another. Therefore, Genisys is in no way revolutionary or remotely new, as it mostly exists within our real world society today. Whereas Kingsman handled its technological aspect as satire, Terminator Genisys takes its material deadly seriously and thinks it's on the cusp of warning us of a new technology.

Alright! Robert Patrick is b...aww, nope. It's not him.

Genisys also has the dullest action set pieces of any Terminator film to date. This is a shame because both T1 and T2 revolutionized action filmmaking for both the 80s and the 90s upon their release. And while T3 and T4 didn't have all around fantastic action sequences, both films contain a few choice set pieces that stand out and dazzle me with their jaw dropping imagery and impressive choreography. Genisys on the other hand is dull from start to finish thanks to an over abundance of computer generated imagery and a dull PG-13 rating. I praised the previous Terminator film, Salvation, for its reliance upon practical vehicles and sets for its action set pieces because it grounded the film in realism. Unfortunately, Genisys throws all of that grittiness and realism out of the window for animated schlock that lacks all tension and suspense. Although packed to the brim with action, there is not a single set piece that excited me in any way, shape, or form. Remember when the Terminator franchise was orchestrated around bad ass gun fire and practical stunts? Yeah, that's all gone now.

If you want to skip major spoilers, than jump to my final rating because I am going to delve deep into many of the film's problems concerning its twists. Alright, here we go.

First off, why does the T-5000 attack John in front of Kyle just before he goes back in time? Why not wait for Kyle to leave, and than attack John, thereby tricking Kyle into thinking that everything is fine. Also, who the hell sent the T-800 back in time to protect Sarah? This is arguably the biggest question left by the film and it's all the more frustrating because the screenwriters are obviously planning to answer it in a future film. But come on, this question is so huge that it needed to be answered in this film! Next, why does the T-1000 arrive in the same time line as the T-800, and in a police uniform for goodness sakes?! Therefore, who sent him back? Also, why does the T-800 not grasp the concept of hugs yet? He learned to understand the value of human life in two days in Terminator 2! And yet he can't grasp human affection after being with Sarah for like 10 years.

However, the biggest flaw of all that made my jaw drop during my screening concerned the T-800's decision to terminate itself. The T-800 gets put into a positiong during the big finale where he can detonate the building that will kill SkyNet. However, the T-3000 knows the T-800 won't blow the building because that would mean he would have to kill Sarah Connor. While it is true that a Terminator cannot kill that who it has sworn to protect, the bigger issue at hand concerns the T-800 itself. How the hell do the screenwriters not remember that a Terminator cannot terminate itself?! They play this moment off as if the T-800 would have blown the building and killed himself if Sarah were not involved. It shocks me that James Cameron okay'd this film because that element of the franchise was most apparent during the finale of Terminator 2 in which the T-800 asks for Sarah to kill him. I guess the biggest question of all is how Paramount okay'd this crap?

Alright! It's Terminator! I love this...oh, it's only Terminator Genisys.

When your film introduces that a time machine can be created by anyone in any timeline, the concept of time travel loses its uniqueness. I nearly laughed out loud by the time I saw the third time machine in this film. Terminator Genisys takes what started as one of the most unique franchises about time travel and ruins everything that made the series good. 

One of the reasons that I enjoyed Salvation so much is because it was something new in a franchise built around doing the same old thing. The film accepted T3's flaws and decided to move forward from there with a better product that properly paid homage to Cameron's originals. Unfortunately, Paramount decided to take the series several steps backwards and travel back in time yet again and tell another story about a good Terminator versus a bad Terminator. Paramount essentially threw all of McG's hard work away and decided to do the same old thing once again. I guess that is what pains me the most about Genisys. It is nothing more than an average cookie cutter blockbuster film primed for the most generic audience as possible. However, the film adds injury to insult with its overtly confusing screenplay. I do not look forward to the two eventual sequels and hope that this new trilogy fails to take fruition. This film should have been retitled Terminator Revelations, as it is essentially the end of a once great franchise, not the start of something new (i.e. Genesis, the start of the bible).

Rating: 3/10 - An overly complicated and utterly dull reboot of a franchise that deserves far better at this point.

Franchise:

The Terminator (dir. James Cameron, 1984)

Terminator 2: Judgment Day (dir. James Cameron, 1991)

Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (dir. Jonathan Mostow, 2003)

Terminator: Salvation (dir. McG, 2009)

Terminator: Genisys (dir. Alan Taylor, 2015)