Terminator Genisys Review

Arnold Schwarzenegger returns as the almighty Terminator/T-800 but does his return to the dying franchise bring back the added oomph that ‘Terminator Salvation’ lacked? My answer to that is a sad no. From the get go when the new Terminator was announced, Paramount mentioned that they will lose the rights to the franchise in a few years and have already green-lighted two sequels to Genisys. Not taking into consideration the films potential box-office gross or the reaction of fans and critics, I really can’t and do not want to see subsequent sequels to this dire film. Terminator 1 & 2 are both one of my favourite films of all-time and the reason for that being is that they just both work. James Cameron directed both incredibly well and used an incredible mix of practical and computer generated effects that to this day are still incredible to watch, especially Terminator 2. The excessive use of CGI in ‘Terminator Genisys’ is one of its many pitfalls; and that doesn’t help when the spearhead of the franchise is now 67 years old. Known for his great stunt use back in the 80’s and 90’s, it was believable to see Schwarzenegger in these unique situations, due to the fact that he is a physical presence on screen.

Now at the age of 67, Schwarzenegger is now embarrassing himself in sequels to his most adored work. ‘Terminator Genisys’ is a mumbled-jumbled piece of work; the constant switch between timelines throughout the movie will confuse any fan of the franchise, let alone a 12 year old kid who is going to watch it at the cinema. For me, the one thing I was really looking for was the addition of a new actor into the franchise who can take a stronghold of the film and ultimately take over the franchise and spearhead it when Arnie is too old (Whenever that is). After seeing Genisys, I fear we are bound for a lacklustre trilogy, mainly down to the average performances by the main cast. Emilia Clarke’s portrayal as Sarah Connor is the most disappointing aspect for me; not only is it incredibly hard to follow Linda Hamilton’s steps as Sarah Connor, but I feel she doesn’t have the scare factor like Linda Hamilton does in T2. Linda Hamilton is a bad-ass in Terminator 2 and will always be known as one of the strongest and favoured female characters in film; and that’s something that Emilia Clarke doesn’t quite grab a hold of, but in my opinion, it was always going to be incredibly hard.

It’s very disappointing to come out of the movie thinking these thoughts, its actually incredibly frustrating that the franchise  just can’t end with one solid movie to tie up all ends and finally give us the actual events of Judgment Day and the actual war of the machines vs the humans which is led by John Connor. That’s what I’m interested in seeing, not another re-hash of the timeline of the movie to try and stop Skynet from destroying the world. We’ve been there and we’ve done that now, and unfortunately, for Genisys, the film is sending us around in circles. No advancement has been made to make a new Terminator movie that will please or even entertain people, because I wasn’t impressed by anything in the film. The visuals were very unrealistic and over the top, the acting was mediocre and the general plot is more of a mess than the way your headphones get like when they are left in your pocket; 2 out of 5 stars for ‘Terminator Genisys’.