Review of Terminator Genisys (2015) by Emmanuel Isaiah S — 03 Jul 2017

Firstly, I am giving this movie a 10/10 solely based on the highly innovative concepts regarding time travel and the captivating story-line regarding the Skynet system.

My thoughts on the Terminator story-line as a whole are as follows:

There is no reason whatsoever for John Connor to have sent Kyle Reese into the year 1984 in the first place. The humans won the battle against the machines, and Skynet was decimated.

Skynet sending a terminator back in time to dispose of Sarah Connor was.

A computer glitch at best made by a desperate, destroyed and condemned artificial intelligence unit. Alternate timelines are a moot point in this regard because the present war had already ended. The logistics of a highly technical, highly contentious, and already decided war being altered in any capacity by something as far-fetched as "time travel" are impossible to attain.

In the movie "The Terminator" (1984), the war was already won, and humankind was delivered from Skynet's oppression of them. The terminator sent back in time by Skynet to kill Sarah Connor was already doomed to fail solely based on the present victory that humankind had already won.

John Connor sent Kyle Reese back in time because Connor wanted to further engage the Skynet system as a precaution, but this action was not necessary. Even in the movie "Terminator 2" (1991), as captivating a movie as it was, was unnecessary in the "Terminator" timeline because the T-1000 in particular and Skynet in general had already failed in their mission of human domination. The resistance beat Skynet already and won the war. Again, the T-800 Terminator sent by the present John Connor to guard Sarah Connor and a young John Connor was done as a precaution, but was not necessary.

All other movies and TV shows in the Terminator franchise do not avert "Judgement Day" or change the fact that Skynet is beaten in 2029. There can never be a "deleted" or "altered" timeline of events because there can only be one "timeline" ever in history and that is the timeline that actually "results" in something namely documented history.

Lastly I would like to address Kyle Reese as the "father" of John Connor. This is not a physical possibility. John Connor was 44 when he beat Skynet and sent Kyle Reese back in time. Kyle Reese was only 27. A son cannot be older than his Father.

Sarah Connor was already pregnant with John Connor when she "met" Kyle Reese in 1984. Their sexual encounter produced no children. John Connor's real father is unknown in the Terminator franchise.

Overall, the Terminator franchise sparks the imagination and human contemplation like no other movie franchise in history. The screenplay and story writers have done a brilliant job in keeping people interested in the series of events in this franchise, and the franchise has done superbly in ticket sales, DVD sales, video game sales, and merchandise sales.

In spite of the commercial success of this franchise however, I believe that the franchise overall has become cumbersome and repetitive in its formula and could use a fresher, more definitive, and more conclusive approach in its storytelling and narrative.