I’ll be back !! and he wasn’t kidding Arnold Schwarzenegger is back once again to reprise his role as the Awesome T-800 in the latest Terminator Genisys movie. After the disappointment of Terminator 3 : Rise of the Machines and Terminator 4 : Salvation I was a bit skeptical about this film. But once I after watching the trailer I felt a glimmer of hope. This year has been very successful for films that have gone for a reboot or sequel like Mad Max, Jurassic World, Poltergeist and the Terminator franchise is no different. It is by far the best sequel after Judgement Day.
The film starts of in typical terminator fashion, everyone is chilling enjoying a Sunday morning picnic and then boom the nukes are launched and we get treated to one of the best Terminator openings CGI can provide. Fast forward, the year is now 2027 AD and the leader of human resistance, John Connor (Jason Clarke), is at the cusp of winning the war against machines. But the malevolent Skynet is not giving up so easily. He sends a T800 to 1984 to finish off Sarah Connor, John’s mother. To protect himself, John sends his trusted lieutenant Kyle Reese (Jai Courtney) to the past. Up till here everyone who has seen the first and second film knows where this is heading. The difference now is that Kyle ends up going to alternate past where Judgement Day is delayed and doesn’t happen till 2017. When Reese is faced with an unexpected twist when he reaches the now-familiar back alley and is stealing clothes off a local drunk, a T1000 shows up and tries to kill him. His unlikely saviour is Sarah Connor (Emilia Clarke), in the flesh, and a cyborg she calls Pops (Arnold Schwarzenegger). A tad weather-beaten (it is still a killing machine but flesh must age), Pops informs Kyle that he may be old but he is not obsolete. What follows is the three of them figuring how to stop Judgement Day from happening AGAIN…..
Any movie that has Time Travel as a concept can be difficult to make in a way that doesn’t confuse the audience. Terminator Genisys suffers from this as well since the film deals with not one but multiple people/machines jumping back and forth using the time machine. Also to make the movie fresh they added the concept of an alternate time line so that they can change the entire course of history from the earlier films (X-men anyone :P). The Action sequences, Special Effects and Arnold are the saving grace of the film. Since I am Sci-fi geek at heart I really enjoyed the story as well but most people might find it hard to digest or understand what is happening. At one point even Sarah Connor asks her devoted Pops: “Are you, you?”.
Emilia Clarke has done an outstanding job as a young Sarah Connor and while Jason Clarke & Jai Courtney both have their moments their performance seem flat for the most of it. Arnold on the other hand is a treat to watch as he balances playing an emotionless robot and caring father figure for Sarah. Even at his age he has done a brilliant job and I feel he was born to play this role. There is a lot of nostalgic moments in the film as we see sequences that will remind you of the first and second film. The Action sequences are great specially liked the helicopter and bus chase sequences in the film. The thing I liked most about the film was the connection between pops and Sarah and how even though he is a machine, he is protective of Sarah more as a real daughter.
If you are a fan of the Terminator Franchise or a fan of Arnold I highly recommend watching the film. The movie does suffer from having a few loopholes, dealing with the confusion that come with time travel/alternate universes and a slightly predictable ending. Apart from that the movie is well made with a decent plot and to certain degree something new from the previous Terminator films.
The film will be out on 3rd July 2015 so if you are in the mood for a summer popcorn cruncher: It is two-hours of sci-fi fun with self referential jokes, a nostalgia trip to the ’80s cult film directed by James Cameron, cool CGI effects which make even the apocalyptic world inhabited by John Connor and his lieutenant look better, and a whole lot of action, then don’t miss out on Terminator Genisys :).
Terminator Genisys Trailer
P.S. This is the only trailer worth watching unless you want major spoilers in the film :).
Would love to hear what you guys think of this film and are you planning on going for Terminator Genisys this weekend.
