The continuation of beloved '70s and '80s franchises has produced mostly mediocre or bad films with rare exceptions like ROCKY BALBOA and RAMBO. So when it was announced that Arnold Schwarzenegger was returning to THE TERMINATOR, it wasn't a particularly exciting moment. It sounded like a desperate cash grab. The subsequent announcement that they were re-casting Sarah Connor and Kyle Reese and revisiting the 1984 storyline sounded like a terrible idea. The trailers seemed to prove that out with several classic lines being used in a new context as if that was something particularly exciting or creative. No, it was just stupid. The new Sarah and Kyle were not inspiring. And the title sounds like an energy drink. Perfect for merchandising!

 

This review will contain SPOILERS because it has to.

 

The picture starts off fairly well with voice-over from Kyle talking about Judgment Day and his youth and it takes us through his first encounter with John Connor. We see some of the future war with Skynet and a bit of the relationship with John and Kyle. So far it's okay, though perhaps there is too much voice-over. Then we get to the time travel part. John explains that someone has to go back in time to save Sarah Connor from the Terminator. Many soldiers volunteer, but Kyle convinces John to send him. We all know that Kyle has to go back in time, but the way this is setup, why not send Kyle with a team of soldiers? Sending him alone, unarmed and naked against a Terminator makes no sense when you have a whole group of soldiers willing to go. Yes, we all know that Kyle has to go back in time, fall in love with Sarah and father John. But guess what in this picture, HE NEVER DOES!! (More on that later.)

 

Kyle goes back to 1984 after the Terminator and we get a repeat of some iconic scenes from the first picture, but we quickly see that things have changed. Pops is a Terminator that was sent back to 1973 to save Sarah Connor and he has raised her to womanhood. When the 1984 Terminator arrives, Pops is there to confront him and we get old Arnold versus young Arnold. The filmmakers have been bragging about the Arnold Synthespian that brings 1984 Arnold to life. When the character stands still, it looks pretty good. As soon as he moves and fights, it looks terrible. Arnold versus Arnold is supposed to be a highlight, but there is nothing memorable about their fight. And who neutralizes 1984 Arnold? Sarah Connor in hiding with a sniper rifle. So this begs the question, why did Pops have to confront the Terminator mano y mano? He could have used the sniper rifle and kept Sarah completely out of harm's way. Oh right, because it's cool to see them fight. This is one of many things that makes no sense in this terrible screenplay. By the way, apparently they spared no expense to make 1984 Arnold for this picture. But who cares when every other 1984 character around him has been recast with new actors?

 

Meanwhile, a T-1000 pursues Kyle. Apparently this T-1000 is the one that was sent back to 1973 and killed Sarah's parents. So for 11 years this T-1000 has failed to find and kill Sarah. Really? That would make him the least effective Terminator in the franchise's history. And wasn't T2's T-1000 a prototype? If that's the case, where did this one come from? Answer, no one knows. In fact, several characters question who sent Pops and the T-1000 back to 1973. But there is never an answer. Why? Because I bet the filmmakers have absolutely no idea. 

 

Now even the setup in T2 is questionable because somehow after Kyle and the T-800 were sent back to 1984, a new pair of Terminators were sent back to 1994. Since then in T3, another pair of Terminators were sent back in time to kill adult John Connor. Then in this film, another pair of Terminators were sent back to 1973. None of this really makes sense, but luckily for us the events of this film essentially wipe out the first two pictures entirely. They no longer exist in the new timeline. 

 

Not once did I feel like I was watching Sarah Connor and Kyle Reese. That is due to equal parts bad writing and bad casting. Once Sarah and Pops meet Kyle, when the dialogue isn't exposition, it is lazy screwball comedy banter. The majority of the humor does not work and is just sad. Kyle does not behave like Kyle at all, nor does he look like Kyle. Michael Biehn's Kyle Reese was in athletic shape, but he was wiry and scrappy. You could believe that he's been through a war and has to scavenge for food. He is a live wire with rage bubbling just below the surface. In this picture's voice-over, Kyle refers to starving but Jai Courtney's Kyle looks like he eats 3000 calories a day and works out with a trainer every day. It's ridiculous. Courtney has a few moments early on with John Connor that work, but that's about it. Emilia Clarke fares a little better but I still never believed she was Sarah Connor.

 

Surprisingly Arnold Schwarzenegger is the standout here. You would think that it would just be Terminator shtick at this point, and sometimes it is, but Arnold still takes it mostly seriously and has a few good moments.

 

J.K. Simmons is a welcome addition playing the older version of a cop who encounters Kyle and Sarah in 1984 and has been obsessed with them ever since. He does not have nearly enough screen time, but he brings life and energy to the picture when he is in it.

 

Jason Clarke is good at John Connor at the beginning of the picture. But when he is reintroduced as Terminator John Connor, he is bland and boring. Byung-hun Lee is also pretty bland as the T-1000. In the first two pictures, Arnold as the T-800 and Robert Patrick as the T-1000 have very little dialogue, but they are dangerous and memorable villains. They are both a force of nature and you feel tension every time they are on screen. That is not the case with the Terminators here. It is just lots of loud action and some clever bits of how to neutralize these Terminators.

 

Getting back to plot, Sarah's master plan is to time travel from 1984 to 1997 to stop Judgment Day. Kyle convinces her to go to 2017 to stop Genisys, which is what they ultimately do. So now not only do they not have sex so that John can be born, instead of waiting and planning to ensure that Skynet never exists, they rush forward to the future giving themselves about a day to stop Skynet. How does that make any sense? Pops can't time travel because of his exposed metal arm. So he spends 30 years waiting. During that time, he works construction at Cyberdyne, essentially infiltrating the organization before he is "laid off". Why doesn't he just sabotage the place and stop Genisys' creation? Why does he wait for Sarah and Kyle to arrive? You want the answer? Terrible writing!

 

Sarah and Kyle arrive in 2017 and are quickly arrested. Then they meet John Connor. But how could he exist when he was never born? Some nonsense about alternative timelines and some other hogwash is supposed to explain this. But it's just more bad writing. A time travel story only works if the storytellers respect the rules. These storytellers throw logic out the window. Their focus is action and blowing stuff up. Like the bus flip that's in all the trailers. It looked stupid in the trailers and seeing how it actually occurs in the picture is even dumber.

 

Courtney B. Vance, a very talented actor, shows up for a few moments as Miles Dyson, who is still alive since T2 now never occurred. Vance is totally wasted here as is the Miles Dyson character. But there is no need for character development in TERMINATOR GENISYS because the next big set piece is more important.

 

Were this the first movie, I can't imagine the audience caring about Sarah and Kyle. And I think the only reason audiences will care for them here is because of nostalgia and remembering THE TERMINATOR. But that no longer happened for these characters. Kyle never saved Sarah and they didn't fall in love and Kyle didn't sacrifice himself and Sarah never gave birth to John. So why do we care about them? They are not compelling characters in TERMINATOR GENISYS.

Director Alan Taylor does a serviceable job with this terrible screenplay, but there is really nothing memorable here either dramatically or action wise. Taylor doesn’t do anything memorable on any level. He is directing big movies now, but he is not putting his stamp on them.

 

This story has a great dramatic possibility - this time 1984 Sarah knows that she must fall in love with Kyle and get pregnant with John. That is her fate. And while the picture mentions this, it never deals with it in a dramatic, real way. Even Kyle's revelation that he is John's Father isn't handled very well. Perhaps these filmmakers are huge fans of James Cameron's TERMINATOR pictures. But they certainly don't understand what makes them work dramatically. And to tell a story that completely negates those first two stories is hardly a tribute. It's more like sacrilege.

 

TERMINATOR GENISYS is not a eye rollingly bad picture. It's relatively well made considering the terrible screenplay and it moves along pleasantly enough. You won't be looking at your watch, desperate for it to end. But it just has no reason to exist. It has nothing to say and there is nothing memorable about it. The filmmakers are anxious for this to be the launch of a new trilogy, but there was no story worth telling here so I don't know where they would go next or why they would waste our time. Are there really any more stories to tell in the TERMINATOR franchise?

 

The biggest achievement of TERMINATOR GENISYS isn't even in the picture. That's the James Cameron endorsement video that was released online a few weeks ago. It's the most photo realistic CGI ever! Or maybe someone was holding Cameron's children hostage, because I can't comprehend how he would defend this picture on any level.