Review of Terminator Genisys (2015) by Bradley W — 19 Nov 2015

Terminator Genisys is another disappointing entry in a once great franchise. I will admit the start of this movie was pretty good and had a lot of things that showed promise. It started off on a good direction and the idea was good enough, but soon that all changed.

The story is nothing short of downright dumb. Its way too overly complicated for its own good and tries to bring in alternate timelines to justify being a reboot, something it copied from the 2009 Star Trek film which already successfully pulled off this idea.

I didn't like the idea for the bad guy in this movie, as it was spoiled in the trailer and it just came off as silly in the film. They actually screwed up this story so badly it erased the storyline from the original great Terminator movie.

While the old Terminator movies had layers and a message about where technology could take us if we aren't careful, this new movie just felt like a commercial telling us why iPhones and operating systems are bad.

They cut out all the heart from the first two films and it just felt like another wasted opportunity like Terminator Salvation. Arnold Schwarzenegger is the best thing about this movie. He was great to see return to the franchise and was a badass.

But the problem is the writing really boggs down his character to the point where it feels like he is only here to provide exposition. He feels like a more cartoonish version of the Terminator we love, which could get annoying.

Emilia Clark was fine, but completely miscast for Sarah Conner. She felt like a step down from Linda Hamilton who defined the role and felt like a completely different character. Jai Courtney is simply awful in this movie.

He is an emotionless black hole that ruins this classic character. Watching him in this movie is like watching paint dry. He simply has no charisma and no chemistry with Emilia Clark. Jason Clark just didn't feel like John Connor to me.

His performance was mediocre and very silly, but I just couldn't buy him as the character from the beginning. I do like the actor but just like Jai Courtney, I feel they could have found somebody who better fit this iconic role.

The action was nothing new or innovative, but it was entertaining and kept me distracted from the awful story and Jai Courtneys performance. Overall, Terminator Genisys is another failed attempt to restart the franchise.

While I was entertained by the action and Schwarzenegger's performance, it just didn't feel like the Terminator movie to me.