Terminator Genisys (2015)

"Terminator Genisys" wants to be, but it's not ... "Genesis" (aka "T1 Reloaded" if the hint is too obscure), as well as Jai Courtney is not Michael Biehn, Emilia Clarke is not Linda Hamilton, Byung-hun Lee dies too quickly to be Robert Patrick (yeah, yeah, spoiler .. and yeah, yeah, I know that's in T2), and Schwarzenegger is "old ... but not obsolete" ;).

Coincidence after last time, we have again a movie saved by Arnold. Probably many critics who bashed Terminator Episode 5 won't agree with that, but I'm asking then ... if T5 is so lame, how would it be without even the recycled T-800. I don't want to imagine that ... But, let's get to the point. Why is T5 so bad? Well ... first it's debatable if it's that bad. As in many other case the story is good. The script, however, is horrible. And the casting is awful. To cap it, the trailer gives a twist, which even though it doesn't have a major impact could've been handled more discrete. In brief, the timeline got altered in a way that doesn't deserve killing neurons to figure out and Kyle Reese sent back in time to save Sarah Connor, gets to be "damsel in distress". And, in a conflict that seems picked out of a Greek tragedy, the unborn son, returned in time with metal anatomic parts, gets to be main enemy. As I said, let's not consume neurons. Anyway ... too many spoilers :) (still, the story is quite ok ...)

No matter what the hardcore fans would say, who probably would've preferred a T1 screening for their T5 ticket (I've heard comments claiming the effects were better there .....), the latest version is not that bad. For who's really nostalgic about the first movies, is impossible not to be touched a bit by some remade scenes, well .. evolving differently, but which we've seen for the first time many, many years ago. Starting with the landing back in time, up to more subtle references = landing (more or less ...) a chopper at the new Cyberdyne HQ. And even if this doesn't bring a memory, I've personally never seen a "serious" chopper chase before :) at least for originality it gets a well deserved plus ...

I guess that a bigger problem than the ton of cliche and the periodic stupidity of the script lines is the terrible casting. Jason Clarke is a major disappointment to what I was expecting. Emilia Clarke tries, but she can't be Sarah Connor. The "Mother of Dragons" is not sufficiently rugged as screen presence to offer credibility for a female version of a Che Guevara risen against uncontrolled technical advancements. And Jai Courtney as Kyle Reese ... I didn't think I'll ever get to praise the acting capacity of Michael Biehn, who got mostly obscure secondary parts in his career besides the Cameron collaboration. Speaking about Jai Courtney I remembered about another failed sequel = the latest "Die Hard". And about a big difference ... If Bruce Willis there seemed to just wait to cash in the check and go home .. Arnold here respects the part that defined his career. He enjoys it. And that probably makes him to be pretty much the only actor in the whole cast that doesn't seem miscast. Luckily there's still an ... "I'll be back" :) no matter how dumb is the moment when it's delivered ;) ...

Rating: 3 out of 5