Terminator Genisys (2015) Review

Grandpa Terminator's scowl isn't enough for me to express how Terminator Genisys was appalling. This reboot of the Terminator franchise does not deserve a second chance. In that I say no to a next film. If there would be a next film, I strongly suggest to have a reboot of actors as well.

Before I go over to my problems with the film, let me point out three things I find appealing.

Credits: Paramount Pictures, Skydance Productions

My Few Awe Moments:

• It's nice for the filmmakers to do some twisting. It's funny when I thought they'd go the same route of having the “first-Terminator-sent-to-the-past” steal rogues' clothes and got surprised with what happened instead.

I shown have known when the robotic voiceover said, “T-101 released”.


• Cisco's special ability (from DC's The Flash) was copied for Kyle Reese.
• There's a scene that reminds me of The Return of the Jedi:

My problems:

• Emilia Clarke needs to work with her American accent.

I can see how hard the scriptwriters worked to put humor in Sarah Connor's script but all of that is lost on Emilia Clarke. The supposed funny lines fell flat on Clarke's delivery.

e.g. When she said, “Bite me.” and “Uh yeah, no shit.”

You can't miss those lines in the first half hour of the film. Somehow, they just sound so awfully wrong coming from her mouth.


• Speaking of mouth, Emilia Clarke has this horrible mannerism of her mouth when she speaks. I could tolerate that when she's a Khaleesi talking down to her subjects but not as any other role.





• Terrible casting

I had expressed how bad the casting went for Terminator 3. While the filmmakers redeemed the franchise with the 4th film with Christian Bale as future John Connor and a really pretty redhead as his wife for Terminator Salvation, I never thought they'd commit the same mistakes again: miscasting.




I like Jason Clarke in action films (like Zero Dark Thirty) but I couldn't accept him as John Connor. Seriously, I don't see anything wrong recasting Terminator Salvation's actors.

Perhaps, the worst of it all is casting both Emilia Clarke and Jai Courtney as Sarah Connor and Kyle Reese respectively. It's not just about the lack of chemistry between them. Either doesn't deserve his/her role. When the news of the casting was released before production started, I know that the movie was bound to fail. Heck, the world disapproved of the casting. I thought the film would be able to justify it, but it never did. It never would.

Poor casting begets poor reception.

Why Emilia Clarke can't be Sarah Connor:

It's obvious she only landed the role for her recent popularity as Daenerys Targaryen in HBO's Game of Thrones that the casting director jumped on the bandwagon and had gone blind to not see she does not fit Sarah Connor in terms of looks.

She's short.

I know that I should not judge people based on their height because I didn't even reach five feet. But still, I'm used to a Sarah Connor who does not look vertically-challenged. Perhaps, I would have forgiven the height misgiving had Emilia Clarke missed the second item.

She does not look athletic.

Emilia Clarke looks pudgy. She clearly had not prepared for her role as Sarah Connor who's been trained by a Terminator since she was 9. Other actors who know they'd been given a certain role would train to make their bodies fit for a character.

Anne Hathaway had to loose 20 lbs. at a certain point in the production of Les Miserables for her role as Fantine. After losing a huge amount of weight for Nightcrawler, not only did Jake Gyllenhaal gained back his weight but had to earn more muscle mass for his role as a boxing champ in Southpaw.

Terminator is a huge franchise. The first film made itself a cult classic before it was followed by a second film. It's appalling that Emilia Clarke couldn't see how huge the role that she was taking. For her lack of preparation, I would say that she either underestimated her role or she's way over her head to be just comfortable with the blessings in her career. If she's just being comfortable at being queen in a tv series, that won't make her go further in the long run if she's not going to adjust to other roles.

She has a baby face.

Her role as Khaleesi/Dragon Queen might make her look strong with barbaric/middle ages attire but she won't be able to carry it in a dystopian world. I know I'm just being judgmental here but I'm used to the original actress' (Linda Hamilton) fierce looks. Perhaps, I was really taken badly on Emilia Clarke's lack of athletism that I'm still overwhelmed with the original Sarah Connor's badassery.

Why Jai Courtney can't be Kyle Reese:

Michael Biehn might have this vulnerability in his looks but at least he looks appealing. In that, he looks adorable. I know I fail at grasping the right word when you say he looks good, like nice as a person and good as how a woman might see a man.

Jai Courtney will always have this bad guy look about him and not in a good way. He does not fall on the category of bad boys that girls will fall for (like James Dean). He's more on the bad dudes. I've seen him in Spartacus series. While he looked tame next to Andy Whitfield, it's obvious he doesn't have Andy Whitfield's fierce and bad-boy looks. (God bless Whitfield's soul in heaven.)

Being the bad guy in Divergent series rather suits him well.

---

I didn't intend to write a review for this film. I wanted badly to ignore it ever since the casting was announced, but I already had a tradition of writing a review of the films in the Terminator series that I decided I can't overlook this one.

I know that this film was going to be bad not because it's a reboot but by sheer miscasting alone. If there's anything making me happy with how the film turned out, it's that it turned out I'm right.