Terminator Genisys: Review

Just saw the movie yesterday night.

It was fine. Average on most accounts. The story seemed interesting enough. Its better than Terminator 3 or Salvation (On an unrelated note, Terminator salvation can go to hell). The movie started off really good. It was fast, energetic and interesting. The entire first act is very well done. The first act ends with a time travel event  to 2017 and this is where the movie slows down. The second act is set up like a marvel movie in that its got this over convoluted plot with a worthless pay off. We get to know what Genisys is in the first act itself. But the movie takes like 10 minutes to explain it all over again. Its not that complicated. Its an OS. And Kyle Reese even says its an OS. Done. No need to spend our time explaining what it is. Matt Smith was a nice addition though.

The second act is the weakest because it barely resembles a movie structurally. Its more like a TV episode and its inclusion is weak. The third act picks up and delivers the climax with good pace. But the damage is already done. This movie shall be average at best. While the third act is good with action, there is a long chase in  helicopters which looked incredibly fake. Like almost an animated movie. Its not bad cgi. But the guy who shot it dosent seem to understand how helicopters move. In this movie, they move like those bikes from Stallone's 'Judge Dredd'. Its jarring to say the least. Had this chase been tense and atleast somewhat realistic, the climax would have been more impactful. But it killed whatever the first act did and set up the climax for failure.

I'll add this. The know-how to shoot action scenes has definitely been more in the past. I cant even understand how a big budget movie could hire someone who dosent know how to shoot action. The director knows how to set up action scenes. But he cant shoot them. There is a bizarre fight scene where the villain robot grabs the terminator and smashes him through railings. Its shot so badly that neither of the actors are visible. And the strange part is, its shown from four different angles. And even their silhouettes are not visible. Only the railing crashing is understood. That too through sound effects. The screen is just sparks. This fucking scene goes on for about 10 seconds. What it accomplished, I have no idea.

There are hints of a better movie through out this. Finally the story had some suspense. Emilia Clarke is a badass and acted well. They did try to soften her up (for teen audiences I guess?), but she is a decent Sarah Connor. The action scenes they wrote in were decent set pieces which would have worked in the hands of someone who knows how to shoot action. While I did not like the idea of Terminator as a literal father figure (while it was implied in Terminator 2, here, the protagonist just calls him pops) Arnold tried his best to lighten the situation with his blending in antics. But scenes like the helicopter chase killed whatever chance this movie had at being good.

If you are a sucker for nostalgia, go for it. Or if you are a fan of Arnold like me, then definitely go for it. Else, wait for it on Blu ray.