Back from the future — again
Terminator reboot just the kick this franchise needs
Terminator Genisys Rating:
Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jai Courtney, Emilia Clarke Directed by: Alan Taylor
Running time: 126 minutes
Well, he did say he’d be back. After sitting out the bombastic disappointment that was 2009’s Terminator Salvation, Arnold Schwarzenegger returns in fine form as the original T-800 series Terminator robot, a role he pioneered more than 30 years ago. As excuses go for missing the last film, “I’m governor of California” is way cooler than “scheduling conflicts.”
In any case, we can all safely abandon Salvation — and, if you’re so inclined, Terminators 2 and 3. In fact, seeing T. Genisys is a bit like sitting down to watch the first Terminator movie again and finding, at about the sixminute mark, that someone has seriously messed with the plot.
At the point where the Terminator takes down a trio of punks and steals their clothes — a scene director Alan Taylor lovingly re-creates in Imax 3D — another Terminator (also played by Schwarzenegger) shows up to alter the timeline in a way that would make Marty McFly proud, and cause Doc Brown to tear out his remaining hair. Small changes then grow exponentially until one character is asking another: “How’d you end up in 2017?”
Back to the Future is only one of the time-travel/science-fiction references touched upon, however obliquely. There’s a shout-out to Blade Runner (Terminators are referred to as “skin jobs”); a bit of Dr. Who casting (Matt Smith in a key role); and a nightmarish sense of chrono-mortality that recalls 12 Monkeys and its own inspiration, the 1962 short film La Jetée. And Sophocles has nothing on the family reunion that provides a major dramatic pivot.
But fear not: You don’t need to know classical history or even science-fiction benchmarks to enjoy this summer blockbuster. Even as the screenplay (by Laeta Kalogridis and Patrick Lussier) creates an increasingly teetering tower of narrative bricks, at its base is a simple premise: “We blow it the hell up.”
Fans should revel in this wellcrafted addition to the aging, not-yet-obsolete franchise.