Terminator 2: Judgment Day was one of my favourite movies during childhood, and I grew up humming the Terminator theme music. While the third and fourth instalments were huge disappointment (for me at least), Terminator Genisys brings alive the series once more, but only to an extent.
Directed by Alan Taylor, the movie starts as a prologue to The Terminator’s (1984) storyline, where Kyle Reese is sent back to protect Sarah Connor, yet-to-be-born John Connor’s mom, from Skynet’s Terminator. Just like in the 1984 movie, the T-800 and Kyle Reese arrive at the same time, but things are different now for we already have ‘Pops’ in the picture. Scripted by Laeta Kalogridis and Patrick Lussier, the storyline is very well-connected, but it sometimes is too much to handle. Alan does his best to keep you engrossed, but unfortunately, just like in his previous work (Thor: The Dark World), he defies logic and uses large-scale destruction to do this. Screenplay is alright.
Arnold is back, and he is back to what he does best; being a torpid actor. Nevertheless, he still charms you with his antics. He’s grown old for sure, but man, he still has the body to play the Guardian. Emilia Clarke looks great, and does well as the Mother of Dra.. oops, Sarah Connor. Jason Clarke (no, he’s not related to Emilia, I checked) is alright as John. Jai Courtney comes up with a better performance than in A Good Day to Die Hard, but he still is a mediocre actor.
Music by Lorne Balfe, supervised by Hans Zimmer is good. I liked the background score, but would have loved for the original theme to be playing for longer periods. Cinematography by Kramer Morgenthau is decent, and the 3D effects are good. The CGI work looked patchy at times. Editing by Roger Barton could have been better.
Is it worth your time and money?: Well, it might not be a great movie and it might actually feel like you’ve already watched all of it; nevertheless,you may give it a watch. Ensure that you have minimal expectations.
Worth mention: The SF Bridge episode is well shot.
Acting: 7.5/10
Story-Screenplay-Direction: 7/10
Technical Aspects: 7/10
Verdict: 7/10
Hasta la vista, baby!
