I’M OLD…AND OBSOLETE!

I don’t think there’s been a Sci-Fi/Action series other than the ‘Terminator’ series that has had a ton load of high and low points within each interation. If you think about it, if you had to watch any of the previous ‘Terminator’ titles, it’s highly probable that you’ll either watch the very first film or Judgement Day which is arguably the best pick to watch within this roller-coaster series. After the 1991 great, everything from then on really just fell apart. Yes, even though Rise of the Machines had it’s fair share of moments, it was kinda lousy in the acting performances followed special effects that at times was laughable. As for Salvation, well I’m not going to get into that as I will get into a rant. The point is, the ‘Terminator’ films have had their fair share of good and bad moments. However, with the arrival of Terminator Genisys, a remake/prequel/sequel that not only completely disregards the existence of the 3rd and 4th films, but it does hall-mark back to the original films with the way they incorporate some of the scenes from the first film into this piece. Metaphorically, Genisys essentially represents what the ‘Terminator’ series represents; a mixed bag full of positives and negatives. While Genisys’s high points of going back to the original films with the time story mechanic they’re going with and the performances of Emilia Clarke as Sarah Connor and Arnold Schwarzenegger offer up that old ‘Terminator’ nostalgia with the roles that they play, it’s disappointing to state that the negatives certainly hold this film back from being a perfect re-imagination with the likes of Hollywood once again, pushing Jai Courtney into yet another Summer blockbuster which he again fails to uphold, the side performances of J.K Simmons and Matt Smith are ‘convenient’ as anything and tonally it’s all over the place as it doesn’t mesh the action and exposition consistently with the amount of time this film has which is too long for my taste.

So due to the fact this film is all over the place and does let loose on heavy spoilers and is something that I’m going to cover a little bit later on, I’m not going to go in depth with the entirety of the story as I’m sure lot’s of people do want to watch this film. As told in the original film and re-done in this film, when John Connor (Jason Clarke), Leader of the human resistance, stumbles upon a time device in which Skynet has sent a machine back in time to kill his mother Sarah Connor, he sends Sgt. Kyle Reese (Jai Courtney) back to 1984 to not only protect Sarah Connor (Emilia Clarke) and stop the T-800 from killing her, but also to safeguard the future and potentially stop the development of Skynet. However, when Reese arrives to the year of 1984, nothing is as he expected it to be as unexpected turn of events creates a fractured timeline. Now, Reese finds himself in a new and unfamiliar version of the past, where he is partnered up with Sarah and the Guardian (Arnold Schwarzenegger). With the help of his new and unexpected allies, Reese and co have a new and unexpected mission: to go to the year of 2017, shut down Skynet A.K.A ‘Genisys’ (a soon-to-be unveiled operating system that is embraced by the public) and stop judgement day from ever happening… (I know, like we haven’t heard that before!!.. am I right?!).

The first aspect that has to be talked about firstly is the tone and the pacing of the film as I think that these two aspects both contribute to the good and bad points of Genisys. When you take a look back at both the tone and the pacing for the first two ‘Terminator’ films that James Cameron covered, overall you can say that there was an original tone when it came down to the progression of the action and the story. With the original made in the 80’s, of course it had elements that essentially put the human characters up against this killing machine which connects to this survival theme that most Sci-Fi films adopted in the 80’s like with Alien and with Predator and so on. Following through to Judgment Day, and looking back at that film, you kind of remember and admire how Cameron pretty much out-did himself. For a good sequel to work, it not only has to retain what the first film had and did well, but it also has to have a few niche and quirky touches to it.Judgement Day not only retained this mysticism around the narrative that the first film delivered really well, but it also had much improved action sequences that don’t seem to bog down and last forever and special-effects that seemed practical and believable. Probably the best aspect to take away from that film was how in terms of the plot progression, how it had this role-reversal concept with the ‘old’ Terminator becoming this savior/Dad figure to battle against a far more superior Terminator that is near impossible to get rid of and ultimately, that’s why the 2nd film worked. In the case of Genisys, while I’ll admit that the first 40 minutes or so of the film is relatively a good watch and have that nostalgia with the way they bring back some of the scenes of the first film into this piece and then flip your expectation as to how they change it with the narrative they have brought in, you can arguably say that after all that goodness, everything just doesn’t have a balance. There are multiple occasions where there maybe characters talking and advancing the plot, and then randomly out of nowhere there would be an action sequence that starts up. Im not joking when I say this, but that happened about 4 times through my own viewing of the film, and I have to say that I was a tad annoyed at how that kept on happening consistently. To go a bit further and really slate it all, the action is no way near the adrenaline standard of previous Terminator films. At no point was I amazed at how the action sequences were done and how the special effects supplemented it all. Even when I was looking at the T-1000 and how he was represented in this film, I was thinking to myself ‘couldn’t I have just watched Terminator 2 again?!’ I actually think that the T-1000 back in number 2 in how he morphed in the liquid metal looks more impressive than what I saw with the T-1000 in Genisys.

Despite this disappointing lack of quality action segments which accumulates and drags the film far too long for it’s own good, the characterisation in general in Genisys for me worked as the performances did not only bring me this overwhelming nostalgia, but it also added a different dimension in it’s own right. The best performances came in the form of both John and Sarah Connor as they not only bring you the familiar sense of who they are as we’ve seen them in previous iterations, but with the way the narrative changes frequently, it’s interesting that throughout the course of the film, they change into completely different characters which I really liked. Emilia Clarke as Sarah Connor was an interesting one as there mixed views on whether she did a good or bad job. From my point of view, I thought Clarke did well considering that it’s not your typical Sarah Connor that you were expecting. Having said that though, she funnily enough kind of looks like Linda Hamilton when the camera goes in for an extreme close-up. The other performance that I really liked in terms of how his character dramatically switches is John Connor who is portrayed by Jason Clarke. Now I’m not going to spoil anything plot wise as it would be unfair to everyone reading this who hasn’t seen the film yet, but I will say he does a solid job. Although, there are moments where he does mumble and talk a lot which funnily enough was picked up by ‘pops’ or the Guardian in one the lines he comedically spouts out. As for Schwarzenegger’s performance, if you’ve seen the ‘Terminator’ films in the past, you know what to expect from him as he occasionally has funny one-liners to action scenes that once again puts him up against a far more superior T-model. Even though it might seem I’m going overboard and a bit nit-picking, I don’t know what it is, but for some reason I just can’t take Jai Courtney seriously. It just feels like Hollywood are always pushing him to get work and succeed but obviously that isn’t happening from my own view. This is the 2nd year in the row he’s been in a Hollywood remake Blockbuster with having done Godzilla last year and now Genisys this year.

As for the story concept, I genuinely did like what they decided to do with this film with how the reverse that expectation with the original film. Forgive me if I’m wrong, but I do think they do use at least one cut of stock footage near the beginning with the old T-800 and that scene where he approaches the ‘nice night for a walk’ guys. If anyone does know whether they did at least use one cut of stock footage, could someone let me know because it would be interesting due to the fact that they did essentially re-do the scenes from the first film from their own handy work.

Now what I’m about to talk about isn’t specifically directed at the film for the most part, but one pressing issue which has everyone talking angrily about are the trailers that were released for Genisys since they reveal too much of the stories content. in the 2nd official trailer for Genisys which was released back in April, a key story point was revealed which sparked a huge disappointment in Director Alan Taylor especially since he thought that the ‘Spoiler’ moment that was revealed in that trailer would have been a powerful and memorable moment in the series. Taylor about this issue went on to state, “I certainly directed those scenes with the intention that no one would know”. Having read upon what Taylor has said, I can understand his frustration. If I was in his shoes as a filmmaker, I personally would be very upset at the editors responsible for the trailers due to the fact that as Taylor stated their, the ‘spoiler’ were meant to be something of a surprise for the viewer. As for myself, I think it tarnished my viewing experience when I was watching it as I knew already what was kind of going to come. I even remember after watching the 2nd trailer when it came out to YouTube in April and afterwards I was thinking, ‘that was a lot of information revealed… hmm’. Reflecting on it all now, I can confidently say that if I hadn’t watched any of the trailers for Genisys, then I would have had a much better time watching and maybe if those spoilers were never in the trailer, this film might have done better than it did. But sadly, we’ll never get to know that now. However, I think it’s fair that I do state this. For those who want to watch this film and haven’t seen any of the trailers, I recommend NOT TO WATCH THE TRAILERS WHATSOEVER! I think not watching the trailers will benefit in liking this film a lot more.

To summarise everything that has been stated, while Genisys can arguably go up there as one of the better Hollywood remakes in modern times along with the likes of Godzilla with it’s quirky way of going back and revisiting the original ‘Terminator’ film back in 1984, it can’t be helped to mention that there problems that certainly ground it’s high expectations with fans. Sure Genisys does nichely hall-mark back to the originals and does beat off it’s older brothers of Rise of the Machines and Salvation which are truly cemented to the ground now, Genisys is not only truly unbalanced with it’s exposition and action which in past ‘Terminator’ films, that was something that worked a treat, but with it’s elongated running time, the film to some can certainly drag as after the beauty period of the first 40 minutes, the film can understandably to some, get confusing with it’s time travel and its antagonist that I liked in terms of the twist. Genisys had the potential to become a film that reinvigorated the ‘Terminator’ series. While on some level it has, I feel that the trailers of the film have tarnished Genisys’s success and certainly everyone’s viewing experience. The question to ponder now is, what if the trailers never revealed too much? would Genisys have received much more high praise? I guess we’ll never know.

And that concludes my latest review. As always everyone, if you enjoyed my latest film review of Terminator Genisys, firstly thank-you and secondly you’re always welcome to post a comment down below if you have something so say regarding my review or the film. Now usually with film reviews, I normally post a film trailer below so you guys can check to see if you want to see it. However, due to the fact that the trailer for the film I just reviewed isn’t something you watch, I am indeed going to leave a small scene from the film so you guys get the gesture and understanding of the film and what I have said in this review. But besides all that, once again thank-you for reading my latest Blog Post and be sure to check to this Blog more often as I do post at least once a week. I may have another Post up this week, but if not I’ll see you all next for another Film review. Have a nice day and see you soon!! 🙂

★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆ – Alex Rabbitte