It’s been over 30 years since Arnie asked for our clothes, boots and motorcycles, and now he’s back to turn canon on its head in Terminator Genisys.
From the start, the plot is reminiscent of the original Terminator: Kyle Reese (Jai Courtney) is sent back in time to protect Sarah Connor (Emilia Clarke) from a digitally remastered Arnold Schwarzenegger. However, things go awry when Reese witnesses John Connor get attacked by Matt Smith mere moments before he his warped back to 1984. It’s convenient that Doctor Who rolls up, because the rest of the film’s time travel explanation is very “wibbly-wobby-timey-wimey”.
So now we’re presented with an alternative timeline where Reese stumbles upon an arse-kicking Sarah and her T-800 father figure who saved her when she was nine years old. Since then she’s been waiting for the naked man from the future to fall out of the sky so she can mate with him and birth humanity’s savior. Simple, right? Also, in this timeline Judgment Day has been pushed back to 2017 and comes at the hands of Apple Genisys – a highly anticipated operating system that will link everything ever and subsequently destroy the human race. Oh, and John Connor is now half-Terminator, or something.
I have no qualms in admitting that as an old-school Terminator fan, I dug this movie. At no point does it take itself too seriously, which is evident in the abundance of campy humour and self-deprecating jokes. It’s also fun revisiting iconic moments from the original two films, but in this alternate timeline. And in addition to the explosions, gunfights and liquid metal awesomeness that one expects from a Terminator title, the Arnie vs Arnie fight may be the best moment in cinematic history. Well, after the flamethrower guitar guy from Fury Road.
Despite the fact that one could perceive Terminator: Genisys to retcon the previous titles in the series, I prefer to think of it in the same terms that they use in the film itself – an alternative timeline. Fans of the franchise can choose to embrace this story as a possibility for the characters, or they can ignore it. Personally, I find it to be an entertaining reimagining of what can happen when you mess around with time, as well as a movie that stays true to the spirit of the originals – cheesy, badass and plain old fun.
3/5 stars
Terminator Genisys is in cinemas now.
