Review: ‘Terminator Genisys’ brings a new time line, cast to an old franchise

Posted on July 10, 2015

By MARK VIOLA

Like everyone other time we thought the “Terminator” series was finally and truly dead, the terminators are back in “Terminator Genisys.” At this point it would be easy to ask just where the story could go next, so perhaps it’s not a huge surprise that director Alan Taylor (“Thor: The Dark World”) and the screenwriters, including “Avatar” executive producer Laeta Kalogridis (“Shutter Island”), decided to go back to the beginning.

Using a similar tactic as the one used by J.J. Abrahms in his “Star Trek” reboot, “Terminator Genisys” takes advantage of time travel–a plot element in every one of the films–to retell the original story in a new and different way while still acknowledging that the original movies (at least the first two) existed.

The result is a decent enough movie with plenty of action and some interesting new wrinkles in a familiar story. While it doesn’t come close to either “Terminator” or “Terminator 2,” it does serve as a better jumping off point for the series than where it was left before, while the new cast does a solid enough job jumping into some iconic roles.

While it is not absolutely necessary to have seen any of the “Terminator” films beyond the first to understand the story here, much of the emotional heft of the story results from knowing how the events played out in the original movie.

“Terminator Genisys” is a solid action movie and a decent installment in the “Terminator” franchise, especially if you consider it a new Part III and ignore “Rise of the Machines” and “Salvation.”

The film is rated PG – 13 for intense sequences of sci-fi violence and gunplay throughout, partial nudity and brief strong language.

(This is a shortened version of the full review available in our printed or e-edition papers.)

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