TERMINATOR GENISYS | Review

There are a lot of things that you could say go right in a movie, but isn’t it so much more fun to say what went wrong?

Terminator Genisys. Honestly, if you are still watching the Terminator franchise, it is more from nostalgic childhood attachment than any real expectation of an actual plot (much like Jurassic World. Don’t even get me started on that monstrosity. Ah, Hollywood. *sigh*)

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But regardless of that fact, I still thought Terminator was a good movie. Not great, but acceptable. It’s the first movie of what is supposed to be a new trilogy (snore) under Paramount Pictures, so we’ll be beaten to death by this story of killer robots until the killer robots actually show up.

Speaking of killer robots, Arnold Schwarzenegger will always be back, and I will always be excited to see him. I can’t lie. But this guy got a severe beating in the movies – it was a little painful to watch. No one should hit old people, amirite? Also – did you know that he is the same size and muscle mass as he was in the last Terminator movie he appeared in (Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines)? I guess once a Mr Universe, always a Mr Universe. Damn. (this dude, btw, is 68 years old. Let that sink in. He is old for real. Like, the white hair in the movie, is actually his.)

While I like that Hollywood is still getting use out of supposed over the hill characters, this feels a lot like a one man Expendables movie to me. Schwarzenegger is a legend, yes, but the more movies they make, the less the shine on that legend badge (they say this will be his last one, though. As they said last time). I mean, Paramount wants to make 2 more Terminator movies. O____o

Sarah Connor aka Khaleesi put in a good performance, significantly less challenging, however (obvs) than her role in Game Of Thrones. I kept wanting her to break out into Dothraki. Jai Courtney was acceptable (though thick-headed) in a movie for the first time ever (what the hell was I, Frankenstein? That entire movie was a mistake that I have to learn to forgive Aaron Eckhart for). I didn’t believe the romances in the movie, though. Seemed a bit quick – ok, a lot quick – and forced, to me. Dude from Dawn of the Planet of the Apes – sorry, Jason Clarke, was a great John Connor (who has been played by everyone and their mother, it seems, including Christian I have a permanent sore throat Bale).

If you haven’t watched the other Terminator movies (but then why are you watching this one, then?) then the movie is not super hard to understand, which is a plus. In fact, you may be more inclined to notice inaccuracies in the timeline if you have watched the other ones, so maybe that is not such a bad thing. The flick was a bit long, but entertaining nonetheless. I give it a 6 and a half out of 10.

The author blogs at akello.co.ke