WATCH THE TRAILER HERE
First, the Recap:
While not unprecedented, it would seem to be a rare thing when a film franchise reaches its fifth installment and the quality and entertainment value has been maintained. This was especially the concern when it came to “The Terminator” series, having delved deeply into the pre, present, and post Judgement Day scenarios. So what’s left? The tale spun in this newest addition to the “Terminator” mythos brings the idea that the timeline established in the original film has now been radically altered. In the post-Judgement Day world, soldier Kyle Reese (Jai Courtney) recounts memories of a world and childhood without the machines, but faces the reality of his first encounters with them as a child, along with meeting humanity’s last hope, John Connor (Jason Clarke).
Hatching a plan of John’s devising that would take down Skynet and free humans from the machines once and for all, the scenario brings us to the point in time where the only choice left for victory is Connor’s choosing of Reese to go back to 1984 and save Sarah Connor (Emilia Clarke), his mother, from the Terminator Skynet has sent to kill her. However, newly introduced circumstances take Reese to 1984, but also to a different timeline’s events, where Sarah is not helpless or unknowledgeable of what’s coming, and has the aid of the original, albeit aged, Terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger). Soon, it becomes a race against time again, including a jump ahead, to prevent Judgement Day from ever occurring at all, a mission made more difficult by an unforeseen factor that threatens to thwart them from stopping what has always been seen as inevitable–the rise of the machines.
Next, my Mind:
It is truly hard to completely explain everything that happens in “Terminator: Genisys” in concise form without giving away details and plot points. Suffice it to say, however, director Alan Taylor delivers a very fluid, fun, bombastic summer film that ended up being much more entertaining than this reviewer originally expected. Visually awesome in IMAX 3D, the action sequences especially stand out. Plus, the nods to the 1984-set original are quite priceless, actually, and this effort also restores some of the humorous moments with Schwarzenegger’s T-100 that entries two and three had provided.
Jai’s Reese is satisfying, played as the war-bred action hero whose entire mission to find Sarah and “save” her ends up in a twisted mess once he arrives in the altered 1984, showing much confusion when she first appears on the scene, much less having to face a T-1000 to boot! Likewise, Emilia Clarke does a fantastic job playing action heroine with this already fight-ready Sarah, presenting her as the very strong-willed, stubbornly tough woman whose developed as such much sooner in life thanks to altered events. And then there’s Arnold, hamming it up as the original machine we all loved to hate, back in “trying to learn to blend in” mode, but still showing he’s got some serious butt-kicking ability.
Overall, this story of how Skynet would come to be, ties and references to the other films, and the over-the-top action we’ve come to expect, “Genisys” brings the goods. And, it wraps up nicely too, which makes one a little nervous that this is supposedly the first of a new trilogy. Think a quick trip back in time to when that decision was made might ultimately be in order.
As always, this is all for your consideration and comment. Until next time, thank you for reading!
