The Terminator movies worked brilliantly as chase movies. As long as you had the people from the future returning to present to save the leader of the resistance, it was super fun. The Terminator (1984), Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991) and Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003) followed the template of saving Sarah Connor and her son John from cyborgs sent from the future by machines who have become self aware. Connor, who leads the fight against the machines, sends a guardian for his mum, Kyle Reese, and later sends the T-800 to protect his younger self in Judgement Day and Rise of the Machines.
The last Terminator movie, Salvation (2009) decided to go in a different direction. Set after Judgement Day in 2018, the movie featured a gloomy Christian Bale as Connor. The film directed by McG, was dun coloured and grim. Bale took his world-saving role rather seriously in the earnest, plodding movie.
However, the fifth movie, Terminator Genisys , has gone back to chase mode, brought back Schwarzenegger and his wisecracks and is all round fun. Director of the first two films, James Cameron, has apparently given his blessing to the film, calling it the official third film in the franchise. The movie opens in 2029 with Connor sending Reese to 1984 to protect his mum from the T800. When Reese lands up in 1984 after stealing a tramp’s clothes, he is surprised to find Sarah recognise him and easily dispatch the T-800. We get to know that a re-jigged T-800 (Schwarzenegger) was sent back when Sarah was nine and has since then has been training Sarah for this moment. The future is not set like we all know and Reese, Sarah and the Guardian T- 800 go to the future to attack the past and defeat Skynet /Cyberdyne once and for all.
The film makes allowances for Schwarzenegger’s age—“old but not obsolete” as he reiterates. The stunts, chases and machines are super cool. Of the cast Jason Clarke plays the conflicted Connor with angry scars and manic sneers, while Emilia Clarke makes for a comely Sarah. Jai Courtney has nice riffs with Schwarzenegger and Sarah while Lee Byung-hun looks suitably stone-faced as the shape-shifting T-1000.
Terminator junkies will be happy with the return of many of the dialogues and set pieces of the earlier movies including “come with me if you want to live” and of course “I’ll be back.” Hasta la vista Baby!
Terminator Genisys
Genre: Sci-fi
Director: Alan Taylor
Cast: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jason Clarke, Emilia Clarke, Jai Courtney, Lee Byung-hun
Story: Terminators crash time and space to spoil Skynet’s party
Bottomline: He is back
