Review of Terminator Genisys (2015) by Dcedmonds — 01 Jul 2015

"Terminator: Genisys" 10 Scale Rating: 5.0 (Mediocre) ...

The Good: The idea and initial concept is a great one. It really felt like an old school Terminator film (finally) for the first 45 minutes or so. Re-visiting 1984 and showing us more of what the future is like were definite highlights. I was dubious about Arnold Schwarzenegger reprising the role of the T-800, but he actually does an amazing job and was at the top of his game. I'm not usually a fan of Jai Courtney, but he was solid in his portrayal of Kyle Reese. The true standout though was Jason Clarke, who played John Connor. The previews and trailers give it away, but he is ultimately the main antagonist of the film and is among the better ones that the franchise has had. Byung-hun Lee's part was small and without many lines, but he was excellent as a re-imagined T-1000, the shape-shifting Terminator from the second film. For about 1/3 of the film, my reservations dissipated and I found it to be an enjoyable and wildly entertaining film.

The Bad: Sadly, they could not keep up that pace as the movie degenerated into "Rise of the Machines" territory. The story slips and never regains it's early glory, becoming somewhat nonsensical and bland. While the first third of the film entertained, the second act was average at best and the last third was awful. The ending was also unsatisfying and doesn't fill me with hope about the future sequels that are already in the works. Emilia Clarke is also definitely no Linda Hamilton and while she tries REALLY hard, she just doesn't pull off Sarah Connor at all. Lastly, some humorous elements were crammed into the film and they felt ill-timed and out of place. The first films have a bit of dry wit to them and it works. Here though Clarke, Courtney, and even Schwarzenegger are chock full of one liners and groan inducing jokes.