Terminator Genisys: Directed by Alan Taylor, Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Emilia Clarke7/3/2015 If there's one film that I can compare Terminator Genisys to, it's Jurassic World. Now that's not only in the fact that they are both revitalizations of old nostalgic franchises, but also because of the way that they approach this revitalization. Like Jurassic World, Terminator Genisys through aesthetic, feels like a fitting entry into the series — even though it's a much dumber and clunkier version of what came before. So I won't even bother explaining the story of Terminator Genisys. If there's one thing that the Terminator films never really relied on, it was the story because of the fact it's all super preposterous. The other reason I don't want to say anything is that if you've see one trailer to this movie, the spoilers have already hit you, and I have no interest in ramping them up. The point is, the Terminator films were always a lot more about the characters than the over arching story, and the life or death situation combined with likable enough characters is what really fueled the entire franchise. And that is something Terminator Genisys keeps up. This is a much more personal action film than one might expect, with all the characters being pushed to the front, and that at least makes them more engaging and likable. You care about these people, and there's a few moments where they connect and it's awesome. It's too bad that some of the actors didn't. That's not to say everybody does badly. Emilia Clarke equips herself very well as did Sarah Connor, and Schwarzenegger is the most fun I've seen him here. He's really embracing the whole back to action thing, and this time has the screenplay to do it (God I hate The Expendables). The writing for him this time around is really funny, with lots of jokes appearing just because he's being a badass. It was nice to see him in actually act in Maggie, but it's also great to see him back. But again, there are a few stumblers here and there. I have nothing against Jai Courtney, but he can't carry a movie. He's just not that engaging...ever. He can be a badass, but I never feel that he can tap into the vulnerability that you really need to be an admirable action hero. Jason Clarke is also not very well equipped here. He just seems out of place here, and isn't that fun to watch. John Connor should be a cool character, but the way that Clarke plays him is a mess, and just not that fun. Everyone else is just underutilized with J.K. Simmons showing up, but not really doing anything. But that often happens in action movies, and while important characters are only one element. The action is quite important too, and it's been a huge game changer in the Terminator films. Here it's definitely trying to imitate the action of old, but doesn't completely succeed. I'm glad to see the action go very much into practical effects (even though there's a lot of CG) like flipping a bus, and the stunts are really cool and thrilling, but it's all only engaging or thrilling enough to stay in your head for about 5 minutes. It's undeniably thrilling but ultimately forgettable. This could be attributed to the fact that I really didn't care for Jai Courney's character during these scenes, and Arnold's invincible so I only really felt for Emilia Clarke's, Sarah Connor. Action scenes require you to feel vulnerability for the characters, and only her's was believable. Still though, all of those elements mashed up worked for me. The personal characters, and thrilling but forgettable action are really fun. Too bad some of the characters are a mess, and so is the story. Overall it's a Terminator movie just it's a T-800 movie compared to the original movies which were T-1000's. <---That was a bad Terminator joke that if you don't get you need to watch T2. In fact you should watch T2 anyway. I give Terminator Genisys a 7 out of 10.
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December 2017
CategoriesAuthorHello welcome to FilmAnalyst. My name is Stephen Tronicek, and I really like movies. This is a way to get my opinions out to people. Thank you for visiting. |