(SPOILER WARNING!!! This article does contain spoilers, if you haven’t seen the movie, just see the first paragraph to be informed without spoilers!!!)

Terminator Genisys may have some cool action and great special effects, but the story was too too messy and confusing, which to me makes this franchise take another big step back.

Rating: 3 Stars

The Terminator franchise has been one of the coolest franchises in cinematic history. However, the way I saw it was a little weird compared to what normal people have watched it. I knew about the franchise, and it’s iconic quotes, but the first Terminator movie i saw (and I am ashamed to admit it) was Terminator Salvation. When I saw it, I loved it. It had great action and a story which to me at the time made sense. Thank goodness for Netflix where I saw the first Terminator movie which was good, and then i saw Terminator 2: Judgement Day which I loved, and still enjoy the action even if it was filmed in the 90’s. Then seeing Terminator Salvation again, it really changed my mind about that movie tremendously. The first two movies was smart, fun, and awesome, especially the second movie. Then i saw Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, and really didn’t like the story of that movie either. So yes, I was skeptical now when I saw that they were making another Terminator movie, however, I had hope since Arnold Schwarzenegger is back in a title role, and the action from the trailer looked awesome. Unfortunately, my skepticism was right.

What I Like: The action was great. I knew it was after seeing the trailers, and director Alan Taylor knew how to blend some great special effects and real action. It also stuck with the originality of the original Terminator movies like with the T-800 robots, the T-1000, and the time travel machine. I also liked how they edited the first movie into this movie and seeing a young and old Arnold Schwarzenegger duking it out at the beginning. That was fun to watch. At least the special effects and action makes this movie worthwhile to watch it at least.

The So So: The acting was decent enough for this movie. Jai Courtney playing Kyle Reese was probably the best acting from Courtney I’ve seen so far. Emilia Clarke playing Sarah Connor was good as well. One thing that bothered me was neither of them look like the original characters of the original Terminator movie, especially Courtney as Reese. Their chemistry with each other was too juvenile for me as well. They seem to always argue about something, and then in the end, they fall in love (excuse me as i roll my eyes). As for Arnold (aka Ahnold), my question is how can a robot age. The movie does explain it, quick and fast which makes it lame, but it worked for this story. I just don’t like how Sarah calls him Pops, it just didn’t sit well with me in this movie. Though it is funny seeing Ahnold act with care in a somewhat robot form, but seeing him creepily smile was just funny for me. This type of chemistry and acting with everybody really created a cool and funny quote kind of making fun of old Ahnold. When he keeps saying, “I’m old, but not obsolete.” Shows that Ahnold as the T-800 is still here to stay, and that’s a good thing for me. Also John Connor, played by Jason Clarke, was cool to watch as a caring guy at the beginning, but the main villain later which he was cool, but nowhere near as menacing as the T-100 in T-2. He was ok as a villain. The funny one liners were either hit or misses as well. I really enjoyed the getting laid off joke by Ahnold.

What I Didn’t Like: What I loved about the first two movies is the cool story, and how smart and intelligent it was for people. The next two movies were ok to say the least and gave the Terminator franchise a step back. As for the story of this movie, it seems like they really tried to make a good and original story, but pretty much failed. First off, they took a horrific page from Terminator 2: Judgement Day, and gave away a major plot twist in the trailers. So the wow factor was pretty much out the window, and that was unfortunate. The movie tried to give an alternate reality of how things would happen in the future, if things from the past goes differently. When trying to explain everything, it was rushed and confusing. All it did was create a bigger mess, and we had to take it as it is. Well, I’m not taking it willingly. It gave me more questions, like why was the T-800 saving a 9 year old Sarah Connor? If Kyle Reese was born after Judgment Day, why in the alternate reality he is born before? Why is the T-1000 Asian this time around, and not a white guy like in the T-2 movie? These questions really made a mess for me to process it all. To make matters worse, just when you think the T-800 will die, he comes back looking younger saying he was upgraded. (LAME!!!) Lastly, the one scene which made me gasp on how awesome it looked in the trailer, really wasn’t that great in the movie. The way a bus just flipped over by John Connor breaking a pipe, didn’t make much sense whatsoever. That’s disappointing.

Overall: I believe this movie took another step back for this franchise. I hoped this movie will do great, but unfortunately, all it can get is an ok rating from me. The action and special effects make it somewhat watchable, but not enjoyable enough. they plan to make another trilogy, and I fear this could get worse. I hope i’m wrong!!!

Rating: 3 Stars

(Sidenote: Seventh Son- This fantasy film had a lot of fantastical action. Unfortunately it didn’t do it for me. Right until the middle of the movie, I was just bored with it’s unoriginality. It’s a rom com fantasy movie, which may delight some fans. I just believe it was a wasted role for Jeff Bridges and Julianne Moore. It looked like they don’t belong in this movie. It is what it is, but maybe this will be appreciated by Dungeons and Dragons fans, and that’s about it.
Rating: 2.5 Stars)