Terminator: Genisys

Terminator: Genisys is the fifth film in the Terminator series. Largely ignoring events from films 3 and 4, Genisys begins the Terminator story a-new - recounting events from the first film, then plunging us into a series of alternative time lines.

Beginning with the adult John Connor sending Kyle Reese back in time (as per the original Terminator), the film begins with a brief glimpse of the future, before transporting us back to 1984. What follows are some lovingly recreated scenes from the original Cameron film, before a time-travelling curve-ball is thrown, sending the likes of Kyle Reese and Sarah Connor on a new path.

It would appear the machines are wise to the events of the first two Terminator movies - sending a T1000 back to kill Sarah Connor as a child. The resistance have gone one better in this instalment, sending a guardian Terminator back to rescue the very young Sarah, keeping her safe over the intervening years.
Consequently Kyle Reese is thrust into a 1984 where Sarah is fully adept at holding her own. With a father-like Terminator in toe, she is fully capable of protecting both herself and Reese - even with another T1000 in hot pursuit!
Sounds convoluted I know - and it is, but to their credit the film-makers have made events relatively easy to follow.
The director this time is Alan Taylor, veteran of numerous television shows, from Bored to Death and Mad Men to Game of Thrones. Of the few features he's directed Thor: The Dark World is his most recent. A lesser Marvel movie perhaps but no less a notable entrance to the grand stage!

Replacing Linda Hamilton in the role of Sarah Connor is Emilia Clarke. Clarke is suitably fresh-faced as the 1984 Sarah Connor. She's spunky and fully adept in her slightly skewed new role. Time will tell how militant and muscular she becomes in future instalments?!
Replacing Michael Biehn in the role of Kyle Reese is Jai Courtney. Courtney impresses with an american accent(!) but he lacks all the important criteria which the character of Reese previously embodied. Courtney is a buff, super-hero type - not a sinewy, under-nourished survivor of the apocalypse?!
Jason Clarke (no relation to Emilia) plays the coveted role of John Connor. He has proven himself as a gruff, confident leader in the likes of Zero Dark Thirty and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. Here he gets to hone these characteristics and more!
Of course the one constant which continues to hold all these films together is Schwarzenegger! He's as watchable as ever (particularly as we venture further from Camerons originals).

The major downfall with a lot of these films is the tendency to skew younger with each subsequent entry. Genisys is no different. The gore and violence is at a minimum and Arnies new (old) Terminator falls on his comedic attributes once too often - that damn grin for example! What was once hilarious in T2 becomes cringe-worthy by the end of Genisys, simply as a result of over-use.

Genisys has a few key ingredients going for it however. The altered time-lines and frequent use of time-travel is a bold move which generally pays off. Even one or two underdeveloped sequences give credence to the promise of a sequel, allowing for further explanation and revelation.
Genisys (the word from which the title comes) is a digital application which will ultimately spark Skynet. This is a contemporary notion which looks increasingly likely in our time - an application which links all of our digital devices together!
Like the first Terminator, Genisys is predicting our own future with some certainty. Surely it's evident to everyone that artificial intelligence will almost certainly turn against us?!!
Arnies ageing Terminator is a master-stroke also. I believe in T2 he informs the young John Connor of his 100- year lifespan. It surely stands to reason that his organic shell would age like everyone else.
This is a great example of Hollywood thinking outside the box also. Arnie, along with many other older actors are still evidently bankable. Lets give these actors age-appropriate roles, rather than humiliate them with make-up and the like. Stop torturing them with the only other logical (in Hollywood terms) alternative - botox and plastic surgery (YUK)!

Speaking of de-ageing, Genisys is the first movie I've seen to successfully replicate an actor digitally - specifically a younger incarnation of themselves. Now, obviously we don't want computers replacing actors, but this kind of technology (used wisely) opens the doors thematically for prequels, flashbacks and heavily manipulated characters.
The aforementioned scene is short, but it's hugely impressive. A combination of techniques I'm sure (body doubles and manipulation of old footage no doubt), but no less a jaw-dropping moment in movie history!
Genisys has one other weapon in it's arsenal, which the marketers of this movie felt inclined to divulge early on. It's an integral part of the movie which I won't go into here. Interestingly this marketing faux pas echoes the logic of the movie. Genisys has a lot going for it, but it spoils itself with mediocrity (a helicopter chase recalls the CG mastery of Schumachers Batman films).

Certainly it's attributes make Genisys worth a look. The first in a planned trilogy, it'll be interesting to see how this first instalment plays with others. Evidently the Terminator will be back!

3/5


Poster image courtesy: http://movies.mxdwn.com