As a moderately strong fan of the Terminator franchise who was disappointed by the last two installments, I was skeptical of the latest that came out last week. Two Arnolds? More time traveling cris-crosses? Kyle Reese again? When it's all said and done though, I'd say it worked as a middle of the pack movie amongst the five that make up the franchise.
The story begins minutes before the battle referenced in the first Terminator movie occurs where John Connor and Kyle Reese along with the human resistance army are defeating the machines in a final skirmish to end the war. Reese is sent back exactly as it happened in the first movie, though there's a glitch where Connor is attacked seconds before he travels back to 1984. This attack changes all of what happens next, similar to what was done in the Star Trek reboot a few years back. Same characters, different plot. This technique has become the weapon of choice when trying to please old and new audiences with a reboot of a popular franchise. Sarah Connor is not the one we know from the first movie, she's waiting with Arnold as the Terminator with her to kill his machine clone and save Kyle Reese. A T-1000 unit is also after them which they're ready for and easily dispense with. Things are different though when Reese recalls a memory from his new childhood past (the past and future are now different that Connor was attacked), and has to convince Sarah to change their travel date.
The main tension of the movie is between Reese and Sarah Connor, which is a welcome change to the previously bleak and macho takes on the story in 3 and 4. Kyle Reese always struck me as one of the better characters along with Sarah Connor, and they work somewhat well together in this movie. Jai Courtney doesn't deliver the performance Michael Biene does, neither great actors for the part (though I liked Courtney in Divergent), and the crucial miss for him is in the youthful sadness of Reese having to grow up in a war ravaged future that Biene did a good job of portraying in the first movie.
The story jumps to three different time settings, which could be confusing for some audiences, and wins the movie the award for most time traveling for a Terminator movie. The tension between soldier Sarah from the 80s, soldier Kyle Reese from the future, and our time is possibly the most interesting part of the movie. The film struggles, though, with what issue it wants to take on from our time and ends up settling for a bland mix of top of mind issues like social media, cellphone ubiquity, and homeland security. On this front, the story offers nothing new for audiences and is one reason why it's receiving poor reviews.
Where it does work though, is in the relationship of Sarah and Kyle now having to live with each other and be pressured to fall in love after knowing they're supposed to give birth to John Connor. At best, the relationship is a love story of two people thrown in together who want to have an attraction and certainly do, but pressures from multiple fronts complicate and threaten that. This is a very relatable aspect of the movie.
The part that doesn't work is the heavy-handedness of the feminism injected in the movie (another common issue movies in our time tackle that has become stale) that seems like a message about both abortion choice and career choice for women. The emergence of this theme in the movie points toward the preponderance of it in the movies of our time, and to further prove the point, just look at the media hype around Mad Max and Jurassic World. For Terminator Genisys, though, this theme comes across as boring and awkward for the couple.
Overall the movie is a welcome addition to the franchise though it's unlikely the movie will regain the greatness of the first two installments. Mad Max will be the critical reboot winner of the summer while Jurassic World will be the popular one. I'm OK with how this ended up.
The story begins minutes before the battle referenced in the first Terminator movie occurs where John Connor and Kyle Reese along with the human resistance army are defeating the machines in a final skirmish to end the war. Reese is sent back exactly as it happened in the first movie, though there's a glitch where Connor is attacked seconds before he travels back to 1984. This attack changes all of what happens next, similar to what was done in the Star Trek reboot a few years back. Same characters, different plot. This technique has become the weapon of choice when trying to please old and new audiences with a reboot of a popular franchise. Sarah Connor is not the one we know from the first movie, she's waiting with Arnold as the Terminator with her to kill his machine clone and save Kyle Reese. A T-1000 unit is also after them which they're ready for and easily dispense with. Things are different though when Reese recalls a memory from his new childhood past (the past and future are now different that Connor was attacked), and has to convince Sarah to change their travel date.
The main tension of the movie is between Reese and Sarah Connor, which is a welcome change to the previously bleak and macho takes on the story in 3 and 4. Kyle Reese always struck me as one of the better characters along with Sarah Connor, and they work somewhat well together in this movie. Jai Courtney doesn't deliver the performance Michael Biene does, neither great actors for the part (though I liked Courtney in Divergent), and the crucial miss for him is in the youthful sadness of Reese having to grow up in a war ravaged future that Biene did a good job of portraying in the first movie.
The story jumps to three different time settings, which could be confusing for some audiences, and wins the movie the award for most time traveling for a Terminator movie. The tension between soldier Sarah from the 80s, soldier Kyle Reese from the future, and our time is possibly the most interesting part of the movie. The film struggles, though, with what issue it wants to take on from our time and ends up settling for a bland mix of top of mind issues like social media, cellphone ubiquity, and homeland security. On this front, the story offers nothing new for audiences and is one reason why it's receiving poor reviews.
Where it does work though, is in the relationship of Sarah and Kyle now having to live with each other and be pressured to fall in love after knowing they're supposed to give birth to John Connor. At best, the relationship is a love story of two people thrown in together who want to have an attraction and certainly do, but pressures from multiple fronts complicate and threaten that. This is a very relatable aspect of the movie.
The part that doesn't work is the heavy-handedness of the feminism injected in the movie (another common issue movies in our time tackle that has become stale) that seems like a message about both abortion choice and career choice for women. The emergence of this theme in the movie points toward the preponderance of it in the movies of our time, and to further prove the point, just look at the media hype around Mad Max and Jurassic World. For Terminator Genisys, though, this theme comes across as boring and awkward for the couple.
Overall the movie is a welcome addition to the franchise though it's unlikely the movie will regain the greatness of the first two installments. Mad Max will be the critical reboot winner of the summer while Jurassic World will be the popular one. I'm OK with how this ended up.
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