Terminator Genisys

I remember the year 1984, for several reasons. It was the first year i went to school at the age of 7, Queen released their classic album The Works, and James Cameron directed the classic sci fi action film The Terminator. This film had a lot of cool ingredients,  that other films of the 80´s did not have. The budget was limited but the film looks really good, even today in some scenes. Actor Arnold Schwarzenegger have already had a hit with Conan The Barbarian. But it was about to change his life completely, when Terminator was released. The Terminator did very well at the box office and was praised by critics.  Schwarzenegger became an action movie superstar and begun his journey on taking Hollywood by storm. James Cameron continued to make action films, especially with the amazing Alien sequel. It would take a long time until a sequel was made,  not until 1991 with Terminator 2 - Judgement Day. It became the biggest action box office success of all time and the special effects were fantastic. The soundtrack by Guns N Roses sold amazing and everywhere you could hear people talk about the film.  Since the sequel did fantastic worldwide,  we knew that a third film had to come. That sequel would take 12 years to release, under the title Terminator - Rise Of The Machines. This film dissapointed me personally, because it could have been better. Schwarzenegger did what he could but the film failed at the box office in America, while it did better in Europe. A fourth film was released in 2009 called Terminator Salvation. This film has some interesting ideas about Skynet, but in the end did not feel powerful enough to enjoy.  So here we are with a fourth film, with Arnold back on screen. I was really excited about seeing this fourth film , hoping we would finally have a good sequel. Is Terminator Genisys the best action film this summer, or just a desperate try to make money of fans? 

In the year 2029, Human Resistance leader John Connor ( Jason Clarke ) make a final stand against Skynet. They seem to win, until they find out that Skynet send a T-800 Terminator back to the year 1984,  to kill John Connor's mother Sarah Connor. Kyle Reese ( Jai Courtney ) is send to 1984 to protect Sarah Connor, but he finds out that Sarah already defends herself against the T-800 Terminator, and disable it. But bigger problems are waiting,  when Kyle is confronted by a T-1000  ( Lee Buyung - Hun). They manage to stop him for now with the help of Sarahs protector,  the Guardian ( Arnold Schwarzenegger ), a reprogrammed T-800. Sarah and Kyle travel to 2017, to make sure that the future is not doomed from Skynets plans to end humanity.  

Compared to the latest sequels from 2003 and 2009, i would have to say that Terminator Genisys manage to at least feel more true to the original first film. This is nowhere as good as the first film or the sequel from 1991, but from an entertainment perspective, i had a good time watching Genisys. There are lots of weapons,  explosions, fighting and plenty of CGI effects. Schwarzenegger is without a doubt the best part of this film.  He is funny and go straight into the action sequences with his unique style. Is there anything wrong with Genisys?  Yes, the story itself is not very interesting,  even though we get to see both the future and present day, here set in 1984. It is the action scenes that deliver when the film begin to get the right speed. Director Alan Taylor directed Thor: The Dark World , so he was a good choice to direct an Terminator sequel.  This is not as good as i hoped it would be, but still good enough to be a sequel that at least follow the same path as the earlier films. Lead actor Jai Courtney tries to be a new Kyle Reese, but it is hard to be better than Michael Biehn. The new Sarah Connor played by Emilia Clarke, is nowhere near as good as Linda Hamilton was. Still she is fun to watch being the bad ass female hero. If you love the Terminator films,  you might actually be surprised that director Alan Taylor have tried to capture the old feeling from the first Terminator films. And for that he deserve some respect, and he does know how to make action films. Terminator Genisys may not bring much new details to the Terminator franchise, but from an entertainment perspective this film have some funny moments. If you love Schwarzenegger and plenty of action, this sequel does at least please you enough for the moment. 

Rating: DDD