Terminator Genisys (spoilers... beyond the trailer)

[ants]

I watched it, and although it isn't anywhere near the level of the first two I enjoyed it. The time travel was fine - T2 had already established/had a loophole that skynet's existence was dependent on something coming back from the future (the chip). So having the same occur here with the switch around was fine. And Matt Smith was cool, very creepy.

But the issue was that Matt Smith as skynet was almost the only creepy, edge of the seat element. Grabbing John had you going "WTF"/wow. Nothing else did. T1/T2 had those in spades. Something like the motorway chase in T2 had far more tension and feeling of realism than the helicopter chase in TG. The T1000 in TG was effectively just an action movie prop/monster. Whereas in T2 there were so many scenes which built the tension around it (talking on the phone with the family, with the prison guard, etc). John should have been more of this because they could have played up the "don't want to hurt him", but did you really think he'd kill anyone? Across T1/T2 you have Reese die, the friendly arnie die, and Sarah get busted up. The characters here never really got hurt.

So nowhere near the same league as the first two. But still enjoyable.

I feel like people are wayyyyyyyy too harsh with movies.
 
For the record, if I were to review Terminator Genisys I'd probably give it 4 out of 5 stars.
 
Here's the thing. I guarantee you that if T1 and T2 were released in *this* day and age, they would be critically panned and considered stupid, boring, and whatever. In T1 all we have is a robot going on a homicidal robot trying to hunt down Sarah Connor. In T2, there's two robots, one is a protector. Either way, in today's day and age, people would be all over it like they are with T-G.
 
The fact is, the series has never been literary quality entertainment. When dealing with future wars, robots, cyborgs, and time travel, there's a certain level of "this is absolutely silly" that we all agree on by watching it. It's a great kind of this is silly. It's sci-fi that is more -fi than sci-.
 
The fact is, this movie delivered EVERYTHING and MORE than what the previous movies had. It had Arnie? Check. Time Travel? Check. Big action set pieces and special effects? Check. Convuluted plotline that was already there in the first two movies? Check. If anything, it actually moved the story forward. We're no longer harping on certain characters, while others get their time to shine.
 
Maybe it's just me, but I am easily entertained to begin with. And I feel bad for people who feel the need to savage movies so readily. There's more to do in life than be a harsh critic.
 
As far as Jai Courtney goes? The dude can act. Go watch Spartacus. I don't know why people give him such flack. He makes an excellent Reese, and Emilia does an amazing job as Sarah.

Nah, this wasn't a patch on the first two because the directing/story line just didn't create the same level of tension. You never got as engaged with these characters. Scenes like Arnies discussions with John, Sarah's flashbacks, gave real bite to the importance of Sarah's attempted assassination (will she/won't she) and the subsequent actions at Cyberdine and the chases. This one may have had all the elements, it had none of the emotional impact.

[red snow]

I think he has a bit of the Samson syndrome. He's just not the same guy without the curly golden locks from Spartacus. :lol:

 

It took me a while to realise that Jai Courtney and "the guy who played Varro" were the same person. The "guy who played Varro" had far more charisma. :P

 

This is a solid theory - those golden locks were amazing :)

[Myrddin]

I think Andrew is on to something here. :lol:

[AndrewJ]

I was, of course, joking. but only half. :)

 

He really does look like a different person as Varro. He has a warmth and an easy-going, laconic style. And the wry smile he has seems to be directed inwards at himself and his own failings. When he's playing the lead or the hero, though, he's supposed to be extremely competent - and so the smile seems to be directed at the failings and weaknesses of everyone around him. He just comes off as smug and superior.

 

So there you have it. The true problem for Jai isn't his hair - it's his smile. I know it sounds equally silly, but I'm 100% serious here. It's the same guy with the same smile, but it come across completely different based on the writing and the role he's cast in. As the buddy, it's self-deprecating. As the hero/lead it's so fucking superior - the 100% polar opposite. On the first, it's endearing and you warm to him. On the second, you just want to punch his fucking face in.

[DaveSumm]

Massively late to the party, but I only just saw this.....did the board wipe eat any discussion? Or did someone come and selectively remove most of the negative comments?  I thought, 'ah, I know, I'll look up the Genesys thread and wallow in my fellow posters agreeing it was pile of shit'. Where are you guys? I thought it was horrible. The script is made up entirely of exposition to cope with the ridiculous plot, and it's all terrible exposition which is badly acted. Ugh. What made the first one so creepy is the concept of a robot who never, ever, stops to give a look or a cool line or whatever, it will kill you. If it can kill you now or 5 milliseconds from now, it'll kill you now. And they broke that rule tons....and then made a John Connor Terminator who did nothing but that. It felt like Termintor fan fiction that had a budget thrown at it. It felt closer in tone to Transformers than Terminator. 

Bleurgh.

[felice]

I'm just appalled they made Genisys instead of a Sarah Connor Chronicles film. Ok, realistically it would be really hard to make a decent film continuation/conclusion to the series that made any sense to people who hadn't watched it, but the series was fantastic.