Saturday, July 11, 2015

Terminator Genisys


Score:  *** out of ***** (C)

Directed by Alan Taylor
Starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Emilia Clarke, Jai Courtney, Jason Clarke
Running time:  126 minutes
Rated PG-13

Long Story Short:  Terminator Genisys is the fifth installment of the franchise that started over thirty years ago, and it doesn't live up to the standards of the first two.  Schwarzenegger is nice to see back, and there are some other good actors involved including the Clarkes (Emilia and Jason - no relation).  But the script botches an interesting premise and bogs everything down after a promising start.  Depending on your tastes, worth a rental but no more.


The year is 2029 and, as previous Terminator films have shown, the future is dominated by machines known as Skynet.  However, human resistance leader John Connor (J. Clarke) has helped his beleaguered companions turn the tide, and he launches an attack to try to end the threat of Skynet once and for all.  The attack goes well, but Connor finds a Skynet secret chamber - once again, a human-disguised "terminator" has been sent back in time to eliminate humanity's resistance before it can start.  Connor quickly puts his lieutenant, Kyle Reese (Courtney), into the time machine, too, to stop the terminator.  What Reese finds in 1984, though, is much different than what he expects.  Sarah Connor (E. Clarke), John's mother, already knows about the threat to her life and even has her own protection - her very own T-800 (Schwarzenegger).

While it seems humanity may have the upper hand this time in Skynet's attempt to pacify humanity, the timeline change also creates a new level of unpredictability.  Connor, Reese and the T-800 set out to stop Skynet, but a series of Reese's fragmented dreams is all they have to go on.  And they must be constantly vigilant, for Skynet could use anything - and anyone - against them.

The cast of Terminator Genisys is decent, if underutilized.  Jai Courtney plays Kyle Reese, the same guy sent back to 1984 in the original Terminator to protect John Connor's mother.  I guess he's supposed to be the main character, but both his acting and his part are incredibly bland.  He ends up just being a body that fights for the good guys, but is constantly overshadowed by his co-stars.  I often lost track of who he was supposed to be and why he was there.  Arnold Schwarzenegger is easily the most entertaining member of the cast, clearly enjoying his return to the series he built and carried in the first two films.  He doesn't have quite the same presence anymore, and the part is kind of cheesy, but he's still fun.  Emilia Clarke plays Sarah Connor; while she lacks Linda Hamilton's (original Sarah) raw ferocity, she brings plenty of personality to the role.  Her acting, and part, are the best of the human characters.  Finally there's the famed John Connor.  He's played by Jason Clarke, a good actor who does what he can but his role is poorly written and gets lost in plot murk (see below).  There are a few smaller parts, most notably J.K. Simmons in a funny role that I wish had been bigger.

The Terminator films are one of the top action franchises, but after the first two great films, ideas of where to go next have been far less certain than the quest for more cash.  While some fans of the franchise surely disagree, I think the general idea of Genisys is good:  use the main element of Terminator - time travel, and how it (could) change future outcomes - for a related but new scenario.  The problem is in the execution, most notably the script.  The prologue is decently and quickly done, with good special effects work to show the future war against Skynet.  And the first part back in "normal" times (1984) is quite good.  It starts by showing much of what you expect from previous films, then suddenly turns everything on its head, and it does all this with entertaining action.  Then it starts to fall apart, and quickly.  The characters use almost all their dialogue to simply try to explain what the hell is going on.  The time change is fine; combined with a messy plot, it's convoluted beyond salvage.  The nail in the coffin is Skynet's new way of dominating the world:  by infiltrating all of our devices, in 2017. ("See!!! It's an allegory for our culture!!!" Ugh.)  Even the action rapidly loses its entertainment.  The new terminator - and effects technology - are able to cause so much destruction that the action loses almost all tension (not to mention being hamstrung by the plot).

***

Terminator Genisys qualifies as the first disappointment of this summer movie season (that I've seen) - the end of an astonishing streak of high-quality entertainment.  Yes, it has a 26% on RT so I wasn't too surprised, but I'm more guilty than most in being attracted to many film franchises (and Emilia Clarke's presence certainly didn't hurt...).  To continue from above, though, I would not call this a cynical cash grab.  The general premise is just fine, it has a cast full of talented, entertaining actors (aside from Courtney), and the production values are good.  The problem is almost entirely the script (and likely the directing, though I still often struggle understanding its role in a film overall), which infects other elements of the film.  It really is a shame, though not an uncommon one, when they don't give this crucial element more effort and attention.  This film was supposed to be the start of a new series, but considering its box office performance, who knows?  You can skip Genisys in the theater, but it looks like there is plenty of non-sequel/reboot fun coming up later in July at a theater near you!


Rolling rankings of the summer's movies (click to go to my reviews):
  1. Inside Out (A+)
  2. Tomorrowland (A)
  3. Jurassic World (A-)
  4. Spy (A-)
  5. Mad Max: Fury Road (A-)
  6. Avengers: Age of Ultron (A-)
  7. Terminator Genisys (C)



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