Terminator: Genisys (Movie Review)

***This review will contain spoilers***

Summary:

Resistance leader John Connor sends an agent back to 1984 to save his mother from a Terminator assassin but the fractured timelines spawns new threats. 

The Terminator franchise has lasted for decades (a lot longer than I've been alive) but nothing comes close to the first two movies. Terminator 1 and 2 were just so good which means a lot considering most sequels tend to flop. The following two movies were good and gave us insight to John Connor in different times of his life. However, something new had to come along. 

Terminator Genisys is combination of a reboot with very much respecting the OG movies. Let's be honest, Arnold is the face of the Terminator franchise and it doesn't feel right to not have him featured in a movie. I loved that they brought him back and he was the star of the movie. His performance every time is phenomenal and has such an amazing screen presence. One issue I've had with this franchise is the lack of continuity with the actors playing John Connor. I can understand using different names to attract attention to the film but I personally feel that Christian Bale played a really good John Connor and would have preferred him to come back for this movie. It was enough time between the two films that he would have sufficiently aged to reprise the role. Another thing I didn't like was how they changed how John Connor saved Kyle Reese. They made a whole ass movie (Terminator Salvation) demonstrating John trying to save Kyle Reese only for them to completely change it in one small scene in this movie.

I love Emilia Clarke and she has shined in a lot of movies but not in this one. It was very apparent throughout the entire movie how hard she was trying to subdue her British accent but it was very obvious, especially, if you compare Jai Courtney who as an Australian kept his accent under control. And beyond that I wish she would have emulated Linda Hamilton's Sarah Connor because they seemed like two completely different characters. Sarah Connor in the second movie was a hardened but badass fighter while this one just seems underwhelming. You would think growing up with your own Terminator as your guardian that they would have leaned more into a tougher look. Linda Hamilton's transformation from the first to the 2nd movie was day and night. You could tell she put a lot of work into her physique as one obviously would if you are destined to be the mother and to protect the leader of a resistance. 

Was this overall a good movie? Sure. Was it a great movie? Not at all. Watching the movie it felt like a lot of the writing was just improvised and not well thought out. I'm not opposed to improvisation when it's done well but it seemed like the writers didn't really think it through how to finish this movie. I don't know how many times it's been said that Judgement Day is inevitable thus in extension so is Skynet going live. I would have preferred a different story line because this movie feels like I'm rewatching the first two Terminator movies with a new cast and a older Arnie but just not as good as the OG movies.

I liked that they finally did a scene of Kyle Reese finding out he was John Connor's father. Out of all the movies they never did a scene like that and it was nice seeing his reaction and then acceptance of his responsibility. I just didn't think Jai and Emilia had much chemistry together. They're both conventionally beautiful people but together on screen they gave me more sibling vibes than romantic ones. It pales in comparison to Linda and Michael's chemistry on screen. 

Just when it seemed Skynet was officially 'destroyed' the end credit scene proved that Skynet survived. I would have preferred a better ending than a end credit scene but I guess that was the best they could have come up with. And we never got an answer as to who sent the Terminator back in time to save Sarah as a child. The least the writers could have done was give us a hint on who it was...maybe even have it lead to another movie instead of Skynet is still alive...like duh. 

Rating:

2.5 stars on 5. It was a good movie but not great. The best part of the movie was Arnold reprising his role. If it wasn't for him being in the movie I would have given it a lower rating. Otherwise, it was a okish movie but nothing compares to the original Terminator movies.