Dustin: 3 of 5 stars Nick: 3 of 5 stars Average: 3 of 5 stars (Woozy canary)
Dustin: Terminator Genisys is the fifth Terminator film, the fourth to feature the real Arnold Schwarzenegger, and further alters the timeline established in the first two films. This time Kyle Reese goes back to 1984, when the first film takes place, but encounters a Sarah Connor who has been raised by a Terminator. He, Sarah and Arnold must now go to 2017 to prevent Google from starting the robot apocalypse.
Nick: There is too much going on in this movie for just one viewing with all the homages that feel rather forced and the time jumps that try to rework the story concocted by the previous installments. If this was the first movie of the series a teenager viewed, I wouldn’t be surprised if they were quite confused. It seems there should have been a disclaimer stating Prerequisite: Have to see the first two installments to enroll.
Dustin: I agree. This doesn’t work as a stand-alone movie. The producers take for granted the audience has seen at least the first two movies (which is probably a safe bet, in their defense). The third and fourth film aren’t really necessary for the understanding. The only thing that mattered to the timeline in the third movie is the idea Judgement Day can be delayed, but not prevented. The fourth one had some backstory, but not enough to matter, and introduced CGI Arnold. The callbacks to the first two were enjoyable, they kept me waiting to see how they would subvert expectations. The main problem with making more and more of these movies, well after Judgement Day should have already happened, is the time travel logistics get more and more convoluted, from being pretty simple in the first, to be downright confusing this time.
Dustin: I agree. This doesn’t work as a stand-alone movie. The producers take for granted the audience has seen at least the first two movies (which is probably a safe bet, in their defense). The third and fourth film aren’t really necessary for the understanding. The only thing that mattered to the timeline in the third movie is the idea Judgement Day can be delayed, but not prevented. The fourth one had some backstory, but not enough to matter, and introduced CGI Arnold. The callbacks to the first two were enjoyable, they kept me waiting to see how they would subvert expectations. The main problem with making more and more of these movies, well after Judgement Day should have already happened, is the time travel logistics get more and more convoluted, from being pretty simple in the first, to be downright confusing this time.
Nick: All the sequels have lacked the intensity of the first two films. They made their characters run around a lot more, but to what end? The first and second had so much horror it really felt like any character could die and it would be heartbreaking! There is no more heart in the series. When John Connor ends up a Terminator it should be jaw dropping, and yet I didn’t even flinch.
Dustin: I think part of that could be because this is a PG-13 film in a series that should be rated R. Granted, fewer teens would be able to get into an R-rated film, which will hurt the bottom line. But, like you said, the lack of intensity this film had compared to the first two definitely hurt.
Another reason could be some of the homages to the first films feel more like parody, or meta-jokes. Ex-Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s (R, California) attempts to come off as human and his companions’ reactions produce as many groans as laughs.
Nick: Genisys does look exceptional though, and the fight between Arnie and his younger self was one of the highlights.
Dustin: There were a number of things I liked, mostly in the first half when we’re still discovering this modified, once-familiar story. I was expecting to hate the idea Sarah Connor was raised by Arnold, but I actually found their relationship somewhat touching. You get the idea the Terminator may have some fatherly feelings toward her, dare I say love?, that isn’t part of his programming.
Nick: Genisys does look exceptional though, and the fight between Arnie and his younger self was one of the highlights.
Dustin: There were a number of things I liked, mostly in the first half when we’re still discovering this modified, once-familiar story. I was expecting to hate the idea Sarah Connor was raised by Arnold, but I actually found their relationship somewhat touching. You get the idea the Terminator may have some fatherly feelings toward her, dare I say love?, that isn’t part of his programming.
I also found the sci-fi message somewhat relevant. Judgement Day is when a cloud-like technology (a thinly veiled Google), uses the death-grip it has over humanity to bring about its destruction. I don’t think Google would really do that, but as I use my Google Fiber Internet service, write this with you on Google Docs, then post on Blogger (a Google service), linking to a YouTube video (ditto, Google) for the trailer, I can’t help but think humanity relies on them a little too much.
Nick: I have also singled in on your location using Google Maps! You look very good.
Dustin: Huh?! Can Google’s satellites see through my roof?
Nick: And through YOUR SOUL! (With an algorithm recreating your soul based on your Internet searches, which are really quite disturbing, Dustin.)
Dustin: Do you see me waving?
Nick: No, but I see you giving me the bird.
Dustin: Where were we?
Nick: The most enjoyable parts for me were between Pops (Old Arnie) and Sarah Connor. I would rather have a prequel of Sarah growing up with Pops as a father than another sequel where there are four time jumps and 37 homages.
Dustin: I’d like a prequel where they explain the reason the machines programmed the Terminator to have a thick Austrian accent when the idea was for him to blend in.
Dustin: I’d like a prequel where they explain the reason the machines programmed the Terminator to have a thick Austrian accent when the idea was for him to blend in.
Emilia Clarke looks enough like Linda Hamilton for the role, and she has plenty of screen presence, but she doesn’t really carry it as well. I believed Hamilton in the first one when she was a down-to-earth waitress, and I believed her in the second one when she was a tough-as-nails survivalist. Clarke might be a little too soft around the edges to be believable. She looks more childlike than Hamilton (even though she’s 28, just slightly younger than Hamilton was in the first movie).
I didn’t realize this was the same chick from Game of Thrones until my wife informed me. I think she looks better as a blonde (figure 1, below), as did Emily Browning in Sucker Punch (figure 2). I guess I just have a thing for blondes with wavy hair, which is why I married an Asian woman.
figure 1: Emilia Clarke as a blonde, Game of Thrones (right), as a brunette, Terminator Genisys
Nick: I kept thinking those same things about her character, but her whole life has been different so she would be much different. Instead of meeting the Terminator at 19 and trying to kill her, she met one at 9 who raised her into a very different Sarah Connor. So it’s difficult to say she didn’t play Sarah Connor as well, but more like the character of Sarah Connor was more interesting in the first two installments.
Dustin: While it didn’t have the weighty sci-fi ideas of the first two movies, nor the emotional pay offs or intense action, Terminator Genisys is a decent bookend to the series. I honestly don’t think we need another of these movies.
Nick: I wish Cameron would drop his future Avatar movies and just make a proper ending to the Terminator franchise.
Dustin: The proper ending was at the end of Terminator 2. We didn’t need the following three films.
Dustin: While it didn’t have the weighty sci-fi ideas of the first two movies, nor the emotional pay offs or intense action, Terminator Genisys is a decent bookend to the series. I honestly don’t think we need another of these movies.
Nick: I wish Cameron would drop his future Avatar movies and just make a proper ending to the Terminator franchise.
Dustin: The proper ending was at the end of Terminator 2. We didn’t need the following three films.
No comments:
Post a Comment