Terminator Genisys (July 1st, 2015)

[The Clown Prince of Crime]

Furlong

Beyond T2 and Brainscan, that dude is awful.

Seeing in 3 hours......

He was ok in American History X.

 

[jye4ever]

Man.. between Khev & a-dev - T-6 is already green lit!!!

About the same budget of next Terminator movie.

 

[Khev]

That said, I don't trust my first reaction. My pattern, even with the figures, is to think ''hey cool!!'' even while others are trashing things left and right. But then later I go on to become a pretty harsh critic as flaws become more and more apparent and annoying to me. I wouldn't rule that out from happening here.

Hey man, we've each had one enjoyable time watching Genisys so we'll just need to savor that while we can. Sure, repeat viewings can make you re-evaluate any movie, and if I could "sour" on T2 you or I could certainly do the same for Genisys. I have since given T2 a pass on its flaws but if it wasn't immune then nothing really is. But personally I feel like I'm not blind to Genisys' shortcomings, I've got my own "list" that I just haven't wanted to make a big deal about. I think I can recognize all of its good and bad and make a pretty educated assumption that it will just be another Thunderdome, ROTJ, Last Crusade, maybe even Alien 3. Not a "flawed masterpiece" but at least a "flawed but still redeeming and valid alternative." Because when it comes to ALIEN films I really only "count" ALIEN/ALIENS like most of you but Alien 3 is kind of another "Batman Returns" for me (what was with the summer of '92? ) I'm very put off by it but never want it completely out of the picture because it always finds a way to draw me back.

One thing that's kind of cool about Genisys to me is that it's a new "canon" entry in the series that somehow demands that you not accept it as canon. How can it be? Either the punks get killed by Arnold or they don't. So not even T1 and TG can really co-exist. They'll always be alternate versions of this same war. Which puts it more in reboot territory, even though technically it isn't, and reboots are always easier to stomach than a botched sequel or prequel that's supposed to "fit in" with an already beloved original (*coughSWprequelscough*.)

Watching about half of T2 last night I did see that these movies don't really "work" as a trilogy. I know Cameron wasn't going to disown his own sequel in favor of Genisys but TG is a much better "alternate T2" than it is "alternate T3." For one thing other than John's facial scar and the existence of T-1000 technology and Miles Dyson it doesn't acknowledge a single event from T2. The future war doesn't show us any snippet of Robert Patrick entering the time chamber, only Arnold. Though in another clever twist by the writers

Spoiler

Matt "Skynet" Smith COULD have sent Robert Patrick, and Byung Hun Lee, through the field after he assimilated John and killed the rest of the soldiers.

But I think if you're ever inclined to watch two or three of these together that T1 > T2 > TG is just too much. Too many return trips to L.A. before the war, too many "good" Terminators, etc. Watch T1 and then either head right to T2 and call it a day or get a little wild and watch Genisys. I must saw it was quite fun to watch The Terminator on the big screen last week and then see Genisys loop back to some of those same 1984 scenes. It really "felt" like the second half of T1. It even began the way T2 was originally supposed to begin. It was cool.

Watching T2 last night I actually was surprised to see that while I could plainly see that it was "better" than Genisys I didn't really feel like I was in the mood for it. I felt like I was watching Shawshank Redemption or something when I was really in the mood for trained velociraptors. Jurassic World is no Shawshank, not by a long shot, but that doesn't mean that I'll personally prefer the latter at any given time. Sarah as a robot just wasn't that fun to me. All the doom and gloom and moping around. Was that realistic? Probably. But Reese was a harbinger of doom in T1 and I never wanted to roll my eyes and say "get the **** OVER it already!" Connor's prep for T2 was one for the ages, she so rocked the soldier thing, and as I've said before her unloading her entire assault rifle into Dyson's living room WITHOUT blinking just makes her one of the coolest action chicks. But...I had more fun with "Pops please just don't say the word 'mated' ever again." Clarke's Sarah was just more fun, but still in a way that worked for the story, IMO.

On a scale of "1-10" I'll always concede that T2 is higher but I have a feeling I'll watch Genisys more. A lot more. So whether you think T2 is slightly better than Genisys or a million times better they really don't have to "compete" with each other and you certainly don't have to re-evaluate T2 so that TG "fits" with it. Because it doesn't. They're mutually exclusive to one another as continuations of the story. So you get to just watch whichever one you're in the mood for and for those two to 2.5 hours alone that's your canon story.

I like having three options. T1 alone (which I still think is the "best" version of the story.) Or T1/T2. Or T1/TG.

 

[spindrift]

...and as much as I am a big fan of Arnold he has no box office draw anymore- it's sad. IF they do another Terminator(highly doubtful) he should not be the headliner. Period.
I can see a chopped down lower budget sequel but I just can't see Paramount doing it. Made for tv ?? Heck yes...!

 

[The Clown Prince of Crime]

...and as much as I am a big fan of Arnold he has no box office draw anymore- it's sad. IF they do another Terminator(highly doubtful)

Looks that way

Box Office: 'Terminator Genisys' Continues To Self-Terminate With $10.8M Friday - Forbes

 

[The Ween]

Or more appropriately. . .

 

[KitFisto]

He was ok in American History X.

Exactly, he CAN act. Just nas to not be a train wreck for a couple of months.

 

[Wor-Gar]

You're surrounded by Seal Team 6 (DiFabio, Ash, Jedibear, Riddick , Wor , jye,)

...

From the looks of the box office, looks like we may be Seal Team 60 million.

 

[quadcent]

just saw it, while it was hard to follow with all the time jumping and even an alternate timeline/universe I enjoyed it as an entertaining show just to watch, not to judge against the previous releases...

 

[Khev]

From comments he made at a Q&A after the screening of T1/T2 last year it appears that Jim Cameron has simply made peace with the fact that selling the rights to Terminator to the studio in 1984 was what allowed him to actually have a filmmaking career and he's no longer bitter about it. His choice was either keep the rights and let Hemdale choose the director or sell it to them in order to direct it himself. Obviously if he hadn't made that decision we wouldn't have The Terminator as it is now, a sequel directed by him, and everything else from ALIENS on.

"I pay attention to [the upcoming Terminator film] but I’m not terribly concerned about it one-way or the other. I’ve let it go. There was a point in time where I debated going after the rights. Carolco Pictures was failing and in bankruptcy and the rights were in play. I talked briefly to 20th Century Fox about it. At a certain point, I think I was finishing Titanic at the time and I just felt as a filmmaker maybe I’ve gone beyond it. I really wasn’t that interested. I felt like I’d told the story I wanted to tell. I suppose I could have pursued it more aggressively and gone to the mat for it but I felt like I was laboring in someone else’s house to an extent because I had sold the rights very early on. Basically I went from being a truck driver to being a filmmaker and part of my dues was that I sold the rights to The Terminator in order to keep myself attached as a director. And the outcome was fine. The rest of my career really hinged on that. But I no longer had control of it. I thought to myself why don’t I just create my own new thing that I’ll have control over the IP. So I let it go and in the act of letting it go, I now have to live with the consequences of that — which is I can’t get too emotionally involved."

James Cameron Talks Terminator 3 | TheTerminatorFans.com

So I'm guessing that prior to watching Genisys he just said "**** it, I've bitched about people pissing in my soup long enough, all of this had to happen so why don't I just not get too emotionally involved in the story and see if I can just enjoy it." And apparently he did. I'm sure that due to his very deliberate stance on no longer "getting too emotionally involved" it probably made him a lot more forgiving than he would have been if he saw a movie of Genisys' quality that that he had never been associated with. So to allow himself to stay distant and not bitter I bet he just erred on the side of not making a big deal about TG and just enjoyed the little homages and things that it made to his previous films. Plus the whole "aging Pops from the 70's" was reportedly his idea that he willingly suggested to Taylor and the screenwriters so I'm sure he did feel just a *little* bit like that was a movie that he did kind of have a part in compared to T3 and Salvation.

I wouldn't be surprised if publicly endorsing the new movie to the world wasn't a kind of "therapy" for him in the final step of letting it go. Kind of like Adam Sandler giving Sean Astin the thumbs up for marrying his ex-wife at the end of Click.

 

[jye4ever]

Fox was hoping his endorsement would've helped with the box office.

Maybe it did, who knows. But certainly not enough.

 

[Khev]

Yeah, I'm sure a lot of you guys are happy that this will be another "one and done," probably the last Terminator movie ever. I will be disappointed to not have certain questions answered like

Spoiler

who sent Pops and what the new Skynet AI will do from here on out

but at least, unlike Salvation, Genisys did feel like it had a real resolution of sorts since

Spoiler

T-John was actually killed and while Skynet is still "alive" we can all just decide if there will still be a war or if they all live happily ever after. Since Skynet determined that every timeline always ends with Reese's death and John's survival maybe this will be the only one that actually advances past "Judgment Day" since finally the opposite happened.

 

[The Clown Prince of Crime]

Yeah, I'm sure a lot of you guys are happy that this will be another "one and done," probably the last Terminator movie ever. I will be disappointed to not have certain questions answered like

Spoiler

who sent Pops and what the new Skynet AI will do from here on out

And that's one of the problems I have with this film. Instead of focusing on a single film like T1 and T2, they were too busy setting up things that would payoff in the next two sequels, which ultimately leaves this film with too many loose strings, unless the international box office comes to the rescue.

 

[Magpie 7]

Studio's are the big problem, they blow their trumpets about a film and its potential sequels. Then the box office receipts are not as over the top as they expected and straight away they pull the plug, mothball the franchise only to resurrect it a decade or so later and include all the unpopular elements in a new instalment that hit the previous film.

 

[ONEYE]

just saw it, while it was hard to follow with all the time jumping and even an alternate timeline/universe I enjoyed it as an entertaining show just to watch, not to judge against the previous releases...

Hard to follow? I can't believe you typed that! I'd be embarrassed. It was easy to follow.

 

[The Clown Prince of Crime]

Fox was hoping his endorsement would've helped with the box office.

Maybe it did, who knows. But certainly not enough.

They even used his name and quote saying it's a good movie on several of the tv spots. Studios usually use critic's reviews and quotes.

 

[Darklord Dave]

Perhaps I'm biased because I just watched Terminator:Salvataion, but Genisys is lightyears beyond that film, and very entertaining in it's own right. I don't really understand all the hate. Great performances, even Arnie's over-the-top grin had it's place. Fun story and developed the mythology in a new way.

I'd say by the casting of Matt Smith they planned for sequels, and I'd welcome it - especially if it involves Emilia as Sarah.

 

[Snake Plissken]

Just finished it... wasn't good or bad, just sits there. It's better than TS, and about equal with T3. Jai was HORRIBLE as Kyle, and he had zero chemistry with Emilia and he took me out of the film constantly. Arnie was alright.

The actor playing John sucked. He looks like the Mrs. Doubtfire mask without the wig and glasses.

 

[RIDDICK]

There simply wasn't enough desire for people to see another Terminator at the theatre.

Same could be said about any franchise that had bad movie with underwhelming box office.
Anyway, no more sequels is a very good thing. This franchise had two great films and that's more than enough.

 

[Wor-Gar]

The last truly inventive future tech this franchise has offered was 1991's nanotech polymorphic "liquid metal".

One of the key problems is that the Terminator feels so dated as a technology to me. I want to know what the world of machines from the future is working on now. A hybrid of things past doesn't sound exciting to me. Sounds like Terminator's greatest hits, which is what the TX was.



Also, before someone defend the old tech, answer me this: if the endoskeleton is pushing all this meat around -- clearly it is what is powering the form -- then how does the organic parts of the body have any muscle tension -- especially with a weight-lifter's body? Why doesn't the endoskeleton just push right through that outer meat-skin when fighting? And what good is placing actual eyeballs in front of the 'endo's eyes' -- does it see thru the balls?