Terminator: Genisys 3D Blu-ray Review
Brad Sturdivant
November 6th, 2015
We didn’t need another Terminator film. In fact, I would argue that the original didn’t need a sequel either and that the studio got incredibly lucky that T2 was so great. But it has been downhill from there because the franchise just isn’t strong enough to continue. For proof, see TERMINATOR GENISYS in which director Alan Taylor and screenwriters Laeta Kalogrdis and Patrick Lussier attempt to pull off what J.J. Abrams did with STAR TREK and Bryan Singer did with X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST and that’s to incorporate a complicated time traveling scenario in order to erase the terrible sequels from the canon. Unfortunately, they didn’t pull it off like the aforementioned films and although T5 isn’t terrible, it’s instantly forgettable.
Writing a plot synopsis for Genisys is a bit difficult. We pick up in the future with John Connor (Clarke) about to send Klye Reese (Jai Courtney) back to 1984. This puts it at the exact moment the first Terminator film began. Once Reese gets back in time, we pick up with Sarah Connor (Clarke) and her “pops” (Schwarzenegger). It turns out that everything has changed and somehow “pops” was sent back to protect Sarah when she was 9 years old. Now, anyone following along knows that this makes zero sense in the scope of the film since someone would have had to send him back from the future and we already know that everyone in the future is pretty much screwed. To explain this glaring plot hole, it’s explained that the who and how of “pops” going back in time has been erased from his memory.
But let’s put that aside for a second and accept the world we’re presented with. Reese, Pops and Sarah decide they’re going to destroy Skynet before it starts, but in this world, Skynet is called “Genisys”. To do that, Kyle and Sarah have to go to 2017 and thankfully, Pops knows how to build and operate a time machine. So Kyle and Sarah step in and meet up with Pops in 2017. From there, John Connor is waiting for them and this is where things get even more confusing. It’s explained that Connor is a man-machine hybrid and he’s acting on Skynet’s behalf. So the John Connor that we all know and love has been replaced by a Terminator-like hybrid that’s set on killing Sarah and Reese. But why would he kill his parents that haven’t conceived him yet? That’s unclear, but when confronted with the dilemma, Connor dismisses it as nonsense. Meanwhile, the audience is left scratching their heads.
So the film is filled with glaring plot holes, but if we can block those out and just roll with it, we’re still not left with much. The action sequences all seem very familiar and offer very little in terms of intensity or excitement. Emilia Clarke and Jai Courtney give nothing to their roles and although neither was terrible in their roles, I felt both of them were miscast. Hollywood is still forcing Courtney on us and he’s still not delivering. Of course, the highlight was seeing Arnold Schwarzenegger back in action as the Terminator and he was pretty great. But I’m not sure if I enjoyed his part because of what he did or because of what I remember him doing in the first two films.
Because of the plot holes, I know I was hard on TERMINATOR GENISYS, but the truth is that the film is instantly forgettable. For such a big summer blockbuster, it was surprisingly dull and pedestrian. I’m not sure it’s even possible to make a good Terminator movie anymore, but if they’re going to make one work, they need to put a greater focus on the script.
TERMINATOR GENISYS 3D BLU-RAY REVIEW
This is another film that has a few great 3D moments, but overall the format isn’t used very often. I felt like this world is ripe for some great 3D effects and the filmmakers missed an opportunity to exploit it.
BLU-RAY REVIEW
Video: TERMINATOR GENISYS looks beautiful on Blu-ray.
Audio: The audio was fine.
Family Dynamics (15:50): The cast and crew show up to talk about how great and special the franchise is.
Infiltration and Termination (25:30): This one is all about the settings an design of some of the time periods they were in.
Upgrades: VFX of Terminator Genisys (15:05): This featurette covers the special effects in the movie.
