Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Emilia Clarke and Jai Courtney
Directed by: Alan Taylor
Rated: PG 13
Running time: 2 hrs 5 mins
Paramount
Our Score: 4 out of 5 stars
The year is 2029. Resistance leader John Connor is about to send his trusted lieutenant, Kyle Reese, back to the year 1984. His mission: protect the woman who will one day become John’s mother. Sound familiar?
An amazing twist on an old story, “Terminator Genisys” is a film bursting with action and surprises. Forget everything you think you know about the “Terminator” galaxy because director Taylor and his screenwriters have turned the story upside down. When Reese (Courtney) meets up with Sarah Connor (Emilia Clarke), he is surprised to find her with a Terminator of her own, who has been protecting her since she was nine. This is just one of the twists that come at you as fast and furious as the explosions on screen.
The cast is top-notch. I thought Courtney was a little over the top when he played Bruce Willis’ son in the last “Die Hard” film but here he brings a well of emotions that constantly rise up. Emilia Clarke is just as tough (and sexy) as Linda Hamilton was in the original films while Jason Clarke shows us a John Connor we never would have expected. And, of course, there is Schwarzenegger. Reprising the role that made him a star, he makes his re-programmed T-800 feel, dare I say it, almost human. He also has a great sense of humor. In the film it is learned that the outer skin on the Terminators is organic and that it ages just like the real thing, so when Arnold shows up with wrinkles and gray hair it’s explained.
The story moves fast, has plenty of action and just enough humor to keep you chuckling. Arnold promised he’d be back and he kept his word in spades!
