Terminator Genisys: A Good Film Theoretically
Ben Cottingham | 11th July 2015
Photo credit: Twitter
The year is 2015 and, although it feels like 1993, with reboots of Mad Max and Jurassic Park, it seemed only natural to dust off the shining skull of the T-800, get Arnie out of his tank for a few weeks (yes, Arnie owns a tank) and slap together a summer blockbuster.
In terms of casting, the film takes the line of actors who ‘you’ve seen in that other film’.
Jason ‘that guy from the new planet of the apes film’ Clarke, plays the prodigal son, John Connor. A good actor, he has character, a confidence in his walk, and he didn’t got ape-shit (pardon the pun) on any of the film crew. He appears to have escaped the ‘John Connor Curse’ (google that if I’m sounding crazy…).
Next up, Jai ‘Bruce Willis’ son in that Die Hard film we’d be better off forgetting’ Courtney, playing Kyle Reece… Let’s face it, he’s no Michael Biehn, but nevertheless is a good casting. The man can take a punch from a nanomachine-hybrid and a T-1000 which is either a gaping plot hole, or just demonstration of the fact that the man is absolutely hard as nails (take your pick).
Photo credit: Facebook
I just said lastly, I’m aware I’ve neglected to mention the *cringes* A-Lister in this film… Arnold Schwarzenegger… I’m not sure what I can really say, the man plays one character very well. And surprise surprise, he reprises this role for Genisys.
Now I’ve been fairly negative about the casting in this film, and don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed Terminator Genisys as an action film, but not as a Terminator film. This is a very clear distinction, which I appreciate needs some explanation.
Straight off the bat, Genisys is a Paramount film, not a Cameron film. The effects in Genisys are CGI for the most part and they’re damned good but I just feel like they miss the mark. They don’t quite hit the bar raised by the late and great Stan Winston, practical effects extraordinaire. I don’t want to see shiny and seamlessly animated T-800s walking around, I want big, heavy, clunky and awkward puppets to slowly and menacingly look around and drag themselves with a slow deliberation towards their quarry.
But hey, maybe I’m just being nostalgic on that one... But like I said, the effects in Genisys are great, from the electric storm of time travel to the acid melted T-1000 the audience is ‘oohing’ and ‘awwwwhhhhhhing’ with the best of them. As ever, the gunplay is fair, but made redundant somewhat by the near invincible John-Conner-nano-bot. Another potential issue that arises here, is the ever-so convenient ‘magnet-fist’ weapon that totally wrecks the aforementioned Conner-bot. To me this felt bolted on for the sake of good guys vs. bad guys, a minor frustration for me, a very fussy film goer!
One thing I couldn’t get enough of in Genisys was the shot-for-shot recreation of the openings to both T1 and T2. These were done with such care, the same grumpy, cigar chomping city worker coupled with the same frantic crawl across the store made for a very nostalgic nod to Cameron’s films. The attention to detail is frankly astonishing, to the extent that Nike remade 50 pairs of trainers (long discontinued) for Kyle Reece to strap on in the photo booth. To most people this fact is unknown, and with this I feel they miss something huge- Love. Love and respect for what are unarguably two of the greatest action films of all time (with T2 being my favourite action ever!). Despite my highlighting of problems that aren’t really problems, the simple recreation shows me something important, and something comforting, and something exciting. It tells me that however clunky the plot might be, it’s paving the way for two more films, a new trilogy, one that I hope, will do Cameron’s original works proud.
Overall, I enjoyed watching Terminator Genisys but to me as a fan, with his head stuck in the late 80s and early 90s, it didn’t quite hit the mark. But I have hope. To quote the unnamed Mexican boy at the end of Terminator, ‘There’s a storm coming’ and right now, that storm is two films that could drive a franchise into the ground, or raise it higher than it ever has been.
But until then… Hasta La Vista… Baby.
Like this? Check out Ben's blog!