Sunday, July 5, 2015

TERMINATOR GENYSIS REVIEW





I'm a huge fan of the first 2 Terminator movies, and I was excited for this one, because Jason Clarke and Emilia Clarke are terrific actors. But, ladies and gentleman, I hate to say it, the Terminator franchise is dead.  Killed by a bad script, and outlandish sub plots. 







"Terminator Genysis" starts as a rehash of the first film, with John Conner, Uber solider, sending Kyle Reese back in time to save his mother, Sarah Conner. Not telling him that Reese is his father, Conner makes sure that Kyle has heard enough stories about Sarah to want to do anything for her. Kyle witnesses John get attacked by a terminator before he leaves his time line, and finds himself in a second rehash of Terminator II, with Schwartznegger acting as Sarah Conners protector. The rest of the film is a convoluted mess about the Genysis project, and how it gives birth to Skynet's taking over the world. It also has a small role by Academy Award winner JK Simmons as the only cop in the US to have seen time travel up close, (He meets Reese in a store 30 years before and never forgets it.) and really, he's the best supporting part in the whole film.

 The acting is fine, with Schwartznegger and Simmons delivering the best parts, but holy moly the script is bad. Peppered with cliche's and some of the most awful one liners. The action is decent,  I mean who wouldn't like Schwartznegger doing his thing? And  Jason Clarke, so terrific as the CIA torturer in "Zero Dark Thirty," leaves us cold as John Conner. Emilia Clarke and Jai Courtenay, who plays Kyle Reese have little chemistry, and in the end, with a plot twist designed to tick off the die hard fans, leaves you cold. Like, "This is dead to me now," cold.  The ONLY thing I thought was ok script wise, was the relationship between Sarah and Schwartzneggers Terminator who she refers to as "Pops." He saved her as a child and in raising her for years, she grows fond of him. The relationship, though someone un emotional, ends up being the most emotional thing in the film. 





                                                        THE VERDICT

Though Schwarzenegger and Simmons are great, and the movie has a great father/ daughter relationship, "Terminator Genysis" is a huge disappointment with a bad script. "Terminator Genysis" gets a C-. 

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