Terminator: Genisys

Last night my wife and I compromised and it was a huge mistake.

She had selected some possible movies, and all of them were dramas. I was tired – had a scare with my dad who lives 6 hours away last week, and once I had mopped that up I had one of the worst Fridays at work in memory – so I didn’t want to use my brain. I had a collection of Chinese and Korean historic actioners, none of which had been well-reviewed.

We compromised on Terminator: Genisys.

The horror. The horror.

My wife, who has much more charged for this than I, nodded off a couple of times. I got up to get a drink, make some popcorn, and didn’t pause the movie. These two are basically equal. I don’t think I could fall asleep with a movie on if I wanted, no matter its quality, but I also always pause when I have to leave a movie for a moment.

So, yeah, not so good.

The plot was convoluted. The acting was acceptable but not exceptional. The action was mediocre. There was way too much idiot plot going on – story only works if all participants are idiots.

Redeeming? I like the idea of re-booting the franchise by using its very crux – time travel. How can anything be truly resolved if people and flesh-encased machines can travel back further and further.

Can you imagine Terminator in occupied France? Victorian Terminator? Just its use in this movie was great. I give high points for originality.

I think how the looped in Schwarzenegger’s age was done well, but I think that necessity led to much of the convoluted storyline.

And that’s it. There was nothing else I can really cheer for. Sure, it had Lee Byung-hun in it, but for too short a period and once again as a villain. This makes me sad, because he was the lead in my favourite Korean gangster movie, A Bittersweet Life, and I would love to see him get more of a chance in a Hollywood movie. I know that’s expecting too much, but a guy can dream.

So, I’m going to give Terminator Genisys 2 exploding projectiles of mediocrity out of 5. The plot was convoluted, the action unimpressive, and the writing lacked any real spark. Someday, somebody might do something interesting again with the franchise. This isn’t that day.

You can read more about Terminator Genisys at Wikipedia and IMDB.