Sunday, June 21, 2015

Terminator Genisys Review

A sequel of sorts to -one of my favorite movies- Terminator, the humans have just defeated Skynet only to discover its final weapon, a time machine. John Connor sends Kyle Reese back in time to protect Sarah Connor only it seems like this has already happened, yet something has also changed.

Apologies for the plot summary being a little confusing because that was perhaps my biggest gripe with this movie. Ironically, the whole parallel timelines creates some of my favorite bits where they recreate scenes from the first Terminator movie but add a twist. The parallel timelines device does make me like this movie moreso than Terminator 3 where the characters affirm that they actually have choice instead of being doomed to fate; however, it causes a lot of confusion and unanswered questions (perhaps purposely done since this causes several headaches for Kyle Reese). I won't divulge too much into it because it would spoil the movie, but the confusion and unanswered questions center primarily around John Connor and the T-800 terminator.

For those wondering about how Arnold Schwarzenegger's age would be dealt with, the creators of this film actually invent a fairly clever idea. The terminators have actual human tissue surrounding them, so it must also logically age (contradicting The Sarah Connor Chronicles, but season 2 can be ignored). On that note, Arnold again nails the terminator performance showing both heart and humor. Emilia Clarke and Jai Courtney do a great job portraying Sarah Connor and Kyle Reese respectively. They bring an original performance that feels faithful yet not a cheap imitation which makes perfect sense since -technically- these are not the same Sarah Connor and Kyle Reese that we've known before. I wish they could have done a little more with JK Simmon's character, but he had some great moments as well. Lastly, Jason Clarke did a phenomenal job as John Connor especially since his character underwent some big changes throughout the movie.

Lastly, I want to address the controversy that this didn't get a "hard R" rating. This movie proves that you can have an entertaining and action-packed movie that's not filled with nudity and swearing. The nudity is discretely concealed by smoke, fog, or well-placed objects. And of course since most of the violence is between robots, there's not a lot of blood. An "R" rating is needless and would probably cost the studio money. An "R" rating wouldn't have made this movie better.

I don't know if I really want to see this movie again except to possibly try and piece some more clues together to figure out the story, but I was definitely entertained throughout the whole movie. Great action, great special effect, and great character moments keep you engaged the entire time. It's definitely one of the better movies this summer but just not enough for me to give it 4 stars. As I said earlier, I think the only thing that made me not like this movie more is that the plot was fairly confusing due to either plot holes or questions that are never answered. Perhaps these questions will be answered in a sequel.

Note: There is a mid-credit's scene.

I give this 3 stars out of 5






1 star = I hated it. Avoid it at all costs.
2 stars = I didn't like it, but you might.
3 stars = I liked it. Doesn't warrant a repeat viewing.
4 stars = I really liked it. Has rewatchability.
5 stars = I loved it. Make plans to watch it.

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