Reboots To Asses
SPOILERS: No wheatfields star in this film
Let me pitch you a situation...
Through a lack of original ideas or just lust for money, you truly desire to revitalise a long-dead movie franchise.
But you can't carry on where it has already left off, as some hack director or writer before you has backed you into a corner.
They've either concluded the story adequately or just made too many choices that weren't really popular with fans.
If audiences see trailers showing THAT version coming back, they won't pre-book tickets, will they?
So what can you do?
Easy: Time-Travel.
The X-Men films. The Star Trek films. The Men In Black films.
Go back to the beginning, utilise The Butterfly Effect and BOOM! You've got your brand new timeline!
Thankfully time-travel has been a staple of The Terminator films since it's inception but here comes the first instalment in a brand new planned trilogy:
Terminator
PLOT
When John Connor (Jason Clarke), the leader of the human resistance against the genocidal computer system Skynet, sends Kyle Reese (Jai Courtney) back to 1984 to protect his mother, Sarah (Emilia Clarke), from a Terminator assassin, an unexpected turn of events creates an altered timeline (told you!)
Instead of a scared waitress, Sarah is a bad-ass fighter, trained for years to survive by her own Terminator guardian (the returning Arnold Schwarzenegger). Faced with unlikely allies and dangerous new enemies, Reese sets out to destroy Skynet and reset the future.
If I'm being honest, I don't want to write too much about the plot as it does contain some twists and turns. However if you've seen the trailer for Terminator Jenisysys, then I'm sure you already know the major twist that the marketing department thought you'd like to have spoiled for you...
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| She really wants to know where her dragons are now... |
OPINIONS
I'm pretty sure I wasn't the only person to go into Terminator Genuflect with some hesitation. Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines and Terminator: Salvation were both massive disappointments, and early reviews weren't positive. Earlier in the week, I watched the re-release of James Cameron's The Terminator from 1984 in preparation for Terminator Genisister, and I really shouldn't have.
Even though through watching the original I am now able to see how the writers and director of Terminator Gentlekiss are obvious fans of the franchise and especially James Cameron's original, it just reminded me of how far the films have fallen.
The first Terminator became a cult classic due to it being more akin to a horror movie than a sci-fi/action flick. Arnie as the cold and calculating, unkillable monster, stalking Sarah Connor until his mission was complete. Sarah embodying the innocent every-woman, confused by the situation and scared for her life. And Kyle Reese was a scrawny, beady-eyed lunatic, half the time evading policemen, but always desperate to keep the Mother Of The Future safe. It was such a simple concept in relation to what these sequels have become.
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| No one knew Arnie was Luke Skywalker's stunt double... |
ON A SIDE NOTE
I don't mean to go off on a tangent here, but it's kind of obvious from the first twenty minutes that the writers attempt to recreate and reboot the Terminator series with Genifish, right? So I understand the casting of Emilia Clarke (best known as Daenerys on Game of Thrones) as she looks similar to Linda Hamilton and does an acceptable job in the lead role. But Jai Courtney is just downright wrong casting as the male lead, Kyle Reese.
Apparently actors such as Boyd Holbrook, Garrett Hedlund and even Nicholas Hoult were considered to play Kyle Reese and I would rather any of them ten times before Courtney. He has the presence of a wet sponge, zero chemistry with the woman he'd supposedly 'die for' and is just the wrong overall build for a replacement for Michael Biehn. The point may be small but I just couldn't take him seriously throughout the film.
Back to the film...
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| Terminator Dentistry starts production soon... |
Honestly, I was truly entertained by the first twenty minutes of Terminator Dentistry, which are essentially a retelling of the first film. My expectations were raised as I thought we were going to be having an interesting retcon with loads of different Terminators duking it out over 1984 Los Angeles. But then the plot goes crrrraaaazzzzyyyy, over-saturating with more time-travel machines, creating more confusion and just never recovers.
It simply devolves from an interesting fight for survival into an all-out explosion-fest, spiced with the odd satirical jab at the greedy and overreaching technology industry. The director Alan Taylor (Thor: The Dark World) manages to keep a grasp on things for some parts, but I must admit I did get a bit bored in some of the countless chase scenes...
I'll admit it; it is a welcome change to have Arnie back in the franchise with a similar character to Terminator 2: Judgement Day. The comic relief provided by his failed attempts to blend in with society have always helped the Terminator franchise not take itself too seriously.
But when most of the explanation for some of the damn-confusing plotline come from Arnie's mouth, something gets lost in translation. It should have been left to J.K. Simmons, who's cynical and paranoid cop character is the only positive I can take away from this newest instalment.
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| As J.K. Simmons speaks his lines, his mind drifts to the Oscar at home... |
VERDICT
The first twenty minutes and the obvious homages to The Terminator were enough to get me on board for Terminator Gentleman, but I slowly slipped into steady disappointment throughout the running time.
It's undoubtedly going to hit big at the box office, spawn two more sequels and lots of people will tout how improved it is compared to Rise of the Machines or Salvation. However on a similar theme, just because Revenge of the Sith is thought to be the best of the Star Wars prequels, it doesn't make it a worthy film.
Rating: 4/10
Until next time folks, thanks for reading!
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