So a few days ago, I finally got to see what all the hubbub was about.Did the spoiler-filler trailer actually spoil anything? Let’s see what I thought about Arnie’s latest, Terminator Genisys.
First off, let me get that whole spoler in the trailer out of the way. Did it suck that they showed John Connor being a machine in the trailer? Yes, it sucked a big gulp of donkey diarrhea. But did it ruin the movie in any way? Sure, I would’ve rather got that twist when I actually saw the movie but I don’t think it effected my Terminator-experience in any negative way, other than just that, I would’ve preferred to have seen it when I saw the film. There, done. Next!
Some thoughts on the casting, then, shall we….
Emilia Clarke as Sarah Connor? It worked pretty damn well! She portrayed the character with the perfect blend of Linda Hamilton’s naive Sarah from the first and the battle hardened Sarah from the second, which made her new character fit really well into the new story. Brilliant casting, I have to say! Also, she’s not at all ugly, no, she’s damn gorgeous!
Jai Courtney as Kyle Reese? That’s a little harder to comprehend. On the one hand, I Really don’t like him as an actor. There is just nothing he have previously done that tickles my fancy even a little bit. He’s annoying and bland in everything I have ever seen him in, so when I heard that particular casting news, I was distraught. Ruin Michael Biehn’s legacy like that? Hogwash! But, here’s the thing….. for the first time ever, he didn’t actually suck. Sure, he was still as annoying as ever (in my honest opinion), but he still managed to not destroy what I love about Biehn’s Reese too much. It actually kind of worked. Weird, huh?
Now, for the main event, or so to speak, Arnold Schwarzenegger’s return to the franchise. Having gotten old and all, the first question (for me) was; Could he physically do it? Short answer; Yes!
Being a physical specimen of the absolute highest quality, Arnold rose the bar even higher than before for every musclebound action hero out there. Dude’s jacked! But did he do a good job as the T-800 model 101? Yes, he did. As good a job as he did in T2, I think. Arnold managed to convey a certain humanity to this T-800 that we haven’t seen before. Sure, John taught him a few things in T2, but this version is one that has been around for a lot longer so he has picked up a lot of new things. Things that really worked well with the character. Great job by a great actor!
As a conclusion for this review, I thought I’d give you a few notes on how the 5 films now stands as a whole, starting with the first. The Terminator, released in 1984, was the kickstarter for what is now one of the world’s most renowned franchises. The one that started it all. As a movie on its own, it’s not really that great. Sure, it was innovative and original at the time and it set the standards for many a discussions about time travel and accompanying paradoxes, but in my honest opinion, I don’t think it was as great as everyone says, but as the first installment of a franchise, it is magnificent. It sets the stage for a vast imaginational adventures. This is where T2: Judgement Day comes in. Released in 1991, it still stands as one of the greatest sequels of all time, if not THE greatest. It gave us one of the creepiest villains ever in the T1000 and a fantastic end to it all…. but then came the third and ruined it all. T3: Rise of The Machines. What a load of craptastic misfortune that was. It even failed to give us the ultimate Terminator-quote (Come with me if you want to live!), which in my book sucks ass! Franchise – ruined! But hey, at least we got ..Salvation in ’09, right? Hah! Sure, I don’t hate that movie as much as the rest of the internet, but as a Terminator-film? No, it’s bad! As an action film, it’s really not that bad. It had great effects, not too shabby acting (yeah, I loved Bale’s performance in it, what of it?!) and a lot of great action sequences, but it just …..it fucked up the continuity and the mythology of the Terminator-franchise completely! Which leads me to ..Genisys….
People talk about Genisys being a reboot, revamp, reimagining, whatever, but if you look at what Salvation did for the mythology, I think the route Genisys took was the only one to take. With its legacy having been torn to shreds, the only way to salvage it was to rewrite it for real, which is what Laeta Kalogridis and Patrick Lussier did. They took the platform they had with Terminator and flipped it, turned it inside out and flushed it out as a fresh start. Brilliant writing, really!
The new take on it all brings the “original” Kyle Reese back to a past that’s changed, leaving him confused. Sarah Connor is already a badass and we even get to see old(ish) Arnie fight young Arnie. Awesome!
As a franchise, I would say that Terminator is a very successful one, with a few abolishments here and there of course, with T2 standing tallest and Genisys as a close 2nd, as it stands a proud receiver of the Tango’s ‘Platinum Stamp of Approval’!
And there you have it, my review on Terminator Genisys. I hope you enjoy the movie as much as I did, but I’m gonna go watch a sobby drama now. Okay, bye.
Tango's Thoughts 