New Mission. New Fate.
Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Emilia Clarke, Jai Courtney, Jason Clarke, J.K. Simmons, Matt Smith, Byung-hun Lee
Director: Alan Taylor
2015 | 126 Minutes | PG-13
“Come with me if you want to live.” – Sarah Connor
Synopsis:
John Connor (Jason Clarke) sends Kyle Reese (Jai Courtney) back to 1984 to protect Sarah Connor (Emilia Clarke). He arrives in an alternate past timeline where Sarah Connor is not only capable of defending herself but she also has an old Terminator unit that she calls Pops (Arnold Schwarzenegger) that has been her guardian for most of her life.
Everytime I watch a Terminator movie I spend a little bit trying to remember and comprehend the history and the canon of this franchise. Eventually I give up and remember what a convoluted mess of time travel and retcons the Terminator franchise is and give in to the fun of it all.
I am someone who has found fun in every one of the Terminator movies thus far. Obviously 1 and 2 are heads and tails above the rest but that doesn’t mean that the others don’t have some redeeming qualities that make them worth watching… and worth watching multiple times in some cases. And Terminator Genisys is a fun frickin’ movie. It will be one that I go back to again and again.
First off, I love that we are back in the ‘80s of the original movie. The shot for shot redos of some scenes are a perfect level of fan service that never feels too overly forced. Sure, they could have done a LITTLE bit better by getting Bill Paxton back or something weird like that but that probably wouldn’t have been worth the trouble and might have fallen into the realm of pandering.
The CGI is very good but it says a lot about those first two movies that I miss the practical effects and early CGI from them. The dystopian future… the liquid metal… I think they both looked very comparable if not better in some scenes than in this movie.
The action in Genisys is on point!!! There are plenty of great moments of action and one or two truly memorable moments. This is something that far too many movies are missing… MEMORABLE action scenes. Many movies have action but many miss out on creating something fun and unique.
There are also a couple of really truly funny moments I literally laughed out loud while watching all by my lonesome at home. Arnie’s cheeseball smile as a Terminator unit trying to look normal got me every time.
So, in case I’m not being completely clear, I really enjoyed Terminator Genisys. It ain’t perfect and it ain’t as good as Terminator 1 & 2 but it is a ton of fun and I would hope that future Terminator installments – and you know there will be more – will at least be at this level.
Action Movie Fanatix 