Terminator Genisys—Movie Review

by Peter J. O'Connell

Terminator Genisys. Released: July 2015. Runtime: 126 mins. Rated: PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi violence and gunplay throughout, partial nudity and brief strong language.

The fifth installment of the “Terminator saga” has arrived, Terminator Genisys. The saga involves the climactic battle in 2029 of the war between real humans and “machines,” robots capable of assuming human-like form, and the events that lead up to this armageddon.

These events involve time travel. A machine known as a “Terminator” is sent from the future, first to 1984 to kill Sarah Connor, who, if she lives, will become the mother of John Connor, leader of the humans. Then in the 1990s, another Terminator is sent to kill young John Connor—Sarah having survived through the help of Kyle Reese, sent from 2029 by the humans. In the 1990s, however, young John Connor is helped not by Reese but by a “Guardian,” who is a reprogrammed version of the Terminator sent to kill Sarah in 1984.

Got all that? Head hurting yet? Well, it may if you try to follow all the convolutions that Terminator Genisys adds to the plot of the saga. You see, although in Genisys Kyle Reese (played by Jai Courtney) is sent back from 2029 to 1984, he finds himself in a radically different situation from that of the earlier installments of the saga. An “alternate timeline” is in effect! Also, who's good and who's villainous undergoes some morphing.

So maybe you should forget about trying to follow the plot too closely and just relax and enjoy the visual excitement of the CGI (computer-generated imagery) and the verbal amusement of some of the lines repeated from the classic first two films in the saga—The Terminator (1984) and Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)--and some lines original to Terminator Genisys. The best of the latter are “I'm old but not obsolete” and “You are a relic from a deleted timeline.”

Adding to either the confusion or the fun of Terminator Genisys, depending on your feeling about the installment, is the fact that two of the stars are Clarkes—but unrelated. Jason Clarke is adequate as John Connor. Emilia Clarke is beautiful and appealing as Sarah Connor but not as convincing in her weapons wielding as Linda Hamilton was in the role in the earlier installments. Byung-hun Lee, however, is as icy and relentless as Robert Patrick was as the Terminator in Terminator 2: Judgment Day. Arnold Schwarzenegger, however, is probably the best thing about Terminator Genisys. The Terminator of the first installment and the Guardian of the succeeding ones, he brings a combination of wryness and ferocity to his role. Terminator Genisys is directed adequately by Alan Taylor. James Cameron, who directed the first two installments of the saga brilliantly, acted as a “consultant” on the film.