TERMINATOR GENISYS

The Terminator is one of the most iconic characters in cinema, in both of his manifestations as cold killer and protector he remains easily on the most recognisable character to pay homage to and parody. And sadly it is parody that this latest offering seems closest to, with a Terminator nicknamed ‘Pops’ (even Arnie can’t make a nickname like that anything but laughable). Things actually start out rather promisingly with Kyle Resse (Jai Courtney) fighting the machines in the future along with saviour of humanity John Conner (Jason Clarke). The film then does something interesting by going into the past and re-enacting some of the famous scenes from the original classics, these are some of the film’s best and most innovate scenes, although, as we shall see, reminding people of the original classics might not be the best idea. The overriding problem with this film is that the plot is a total mess, plotlines go nowhere and others - that frankly no one could care less about - are given bizarrely large amounts of attention. First among these is a dull and plodding romance between Kyle and Sarah Conner (Emilia Clarke) - since when did the Terminator movies need to be so convoluted? Aren’t these supposed to be action movies? Now this is not to say that there are not some good action scenes, one car chase involving a school bus in particular is quite good. Overall though for an action film there is far too much talking and brooding and not nearly enough well……action! There are two more films planned in this new revamped series so time will tell if the true Terminator ….will be back (sorry couldn’t resist) FINAL VERDICT 4/10 A lacklustre use of an iconic character.