For as long as I can remember, I have always been a huge fan of Arnold Schwarzenegger. This guy is just the king daddy badass who represented all that was man. In my opinion, he was…nay… is the quintessential action movie star. Don’t get me wrong, Sylvester Stallone is a really cool dude, but there’s just something a little bit more charming and loveable about Arnie…don’t tell Sly I said that.
Because I am such a huge fan of Arnold (I am currently wearing a t-shirt with his face on it as I write this), naturally, I love watching all of his movies. Though I was too young to have seen some of his biggest hits (Terminator, Commando, Predator) in theaters, I was fortunate enough to have older brothers and friends with cool parents who would let us watch all of his R-rated titles on VHS. Re-watching his movies as an adult, I now realize how unbelievably ridiculous most of them are. But now I continue to enjoy them because of how much entertainment value that this absurdity provides. Bulging ‘roided out muscles, unforgettable one-liners, super violent violence. Awesomeness.
Let me clarify that Predator, Terminator 2, True Lies, and few others are not ridiculous. They are amazing, and the only ridiculous thing about them is that they didn’t win Best Picture.
Back to the point: I love watching Arnold Schwarzenegger movies, so I wanted to see Terminator Genisys. Regardless of how bad the previews were or how negative the critics were in reviewing it, I was going to see it. And I did see it. And, dammit, I liked it a lot.
A few notes before continuing. 1) I went into this movie with low expectations. 2) If you haven’t seen any of the original movies, the warped timeline in this movie won’t make much sense. 3) If you have seen the original movies, the warped timeline in this movie won’t make much sense. (Point being: Don’t focus too much on it making sense while watching it or you will get a migraine).
The movie begins with Kyle Reese, the main protagonist, giving a little background into the war-torn, robot infested future into which he was born. He is only a boy when we are first introduced to him, and he is all alone, running around in sewers trying to evade the ever-oppressive machines. After some time surviving on his own, Kyle is rescued by the leader of the resistance, John Connor (JC…Jesus Christ…symbolism and stuff). From then on, Kyle follows ol’ JC around like a loyal puppy.
We then see a brief montage of humans battling Terminators with sweet automatic laser rifles and cannons and turning the tide of the war in the human race’s favor. The battle scenes are cool, but they were too short. This is one aspect of the Terminator series that I wish they would expand upon. I want to see longer, more intense futuristic battles where machines and humans are blowing up all over the place. Not just little snippets here are there. (And don’t try to tell me this is what Terminator Salvation was, because that movie sucked).
After winning what John Connor prophesizes as the final battle against Skynet, the fancy organizational term for the system that created Terminators, the humans find a time machine hidden in the Terminators’ base. Surprise, surprise, John Connor knew that would be there, too (you should really watch the first two movies). They discover that they are too late, and the robot bad guys have already sent a Terminator back in time to assassinate John Connor’s mother before he is ever born. If John Connor is never born, he can’t form the resistance that ultimately topples Skynet. Kyle Reese, now a seasoned combat veteran, then volunteers to go back in time and protect John’s mother, Sarah Connor. The last three sentences are the entire basis for the original Terminator movie. Confused yet?
At this point, Kyle Reese goes back in time to 1984 in what should be the beginning of the original Terminator. This was by far my favorite part of the movie. They recreated, almost frame for frame, some scenes from the beginning of the first movie. Right down to seeing Arnie’s super naked butt cheeks and Kyle Reese fastening his stolen Velcro sneakers in the department store. I even got a kick out of seeing look-alike actors resurrecting small roles in those scenes. From the old, grouchy garbage man to the street punk (formerly played by Bill Paxton), it was fun to watch.
Now, even though there were a lot of the unaltered events from the original movie, we also learn that several things in the past have now changed. Kyle Reese is expecting to go back in time and protect a naïve, untrained Sarah Connor from a murderous Terminator. Instead, he finds a hardened, well-informed-of-her-future, badass Sarah Connor who is accompanied by her trusty sidekick, “Pops,” the guardian Terminator (Arnold). Not only that, but she is expecting Kyle Reese to travel back to 1984 and is waiting for him when he arrives. (Man, it is really getting confusing for me to even write this).
After all of this set up, the story begins to take a shape of its own. Everything that Terminator fans thought we knew about the predicted future is no longer set, and the fate of the human race is once again placed in the hands/robotic arms of this small band of vigilante fighters.
Armed with an arsenal that would make the NRA blush and a crudely built time machine of their own, our heroes are thrust into a knockdown, drag out, time-traveling brawl with some of our favorite familiar bad guys (Terminator models T-800 and T-1000) and one brand new villain (An evil man-machine hybrid of John Connor that is virtually indestructible).
There is enough firepower, high-speed chases, and hand-to-hand combat throughout this movie to satisfy nearly any action fan. And, yes, most of it is over-the-top ridiculous, but that’s exactly what you should expect when going to see a movie like this. If you are expecting extremely realistic fighting, then you probably shouldn’t see a movie about time traveling cyborgs in the first place. Also, you probably shouldn’t expect to be wowed by the less than inspirational love story between Kyle Reese and Sarah Connor. But, again, if you were looking for a powerful romance theme, then a movie about time traveling killer robots is not for you.
I will say that the Arnold factor in this flick was a little underwhelming. They didn’t put as big of an emphasis on his character as they have in the past. He was still a super hardcore ass kicker and provided plenty of good one-liners, but I wish they would have amped up his role a bit. I thought they played a little too much into the fact that he’s an “old Terminator” and that he almost had to prove that he was still good enough to do what it takes to beat up other robots. I understand he does in fact look older than he did a few decades ago when he first performed this role and that they needed to have an excuse for his looking old, but, dammit, he’s a cyborg and shouldn’t be treated like some geriatric nerd. Ultimately, Arnold is still awesome.
Overall, this movie was exactly what it needed to be. It was a high-energy action movie that paid homage to the original without trying to surpass them. I really enjoyed it and will definitely buy a ticket to the inevitable sequel.