In a previous post, I looked at the trailers for “Jurassic World” and “Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens.” Now joining the ridiculously loaded 2015 roster is “Terminator: Genisys” (July 1). There had never previously been a year when any two of these franchises – let alone all three – released a new movie.
At first glance at the “Genisys” trailer, words like “generic,” “familiar” and “standard” come to mind. But I’ll try to keep an open mind as I look forward to the fifth film in the venerated franchise. Here are a few initial impressions:
The fourth film, “Terminator Salvation,” was originally supposed to be the first of a trilogy chronicling the Future War. However, as the franchise changed ownership and production teams between films, it appears that “Genisys” is not the second film of a “Salvation” trilogy. Indeed, it is reported to be the first of a new trilogy. The trailer supports this notion as the threads of “Salvation” are not being continued. While the scene of John Connor giving a rousing speech to his soldiers and accepting Kyle Reese’s request to go back in time seems, at a casual glance, to continue from “Salvation’s” future war, it does not, because …
… Rather than a sequel to “Salvation,” “Genisys” seems to actually be a prequel to the original 1984 film. What I mean is that “Genisys” appears to be (initially) set on the original timeline rather than the second timeline that began when Kyle Reese and the T-800 arrived in 1984 Los Angeles in the first film. The tipoff is that John is not sending Kyle back in order to become his father (as “Salvation’s” John Connor might’ve done, as that John Connor is on the second timeline, and he knows Reese is/will become his dad). Rather, in “Genisys,” Reese volunteers to go back to protect John’s mom, and John takes him up on the offer. Because this is still the first timeline, neither of them knows of their predestined relationship. This is more confusing than it needs to be, largely because …
… Jason Clarke is the EIGHTH actor to play John Connor! One of the oddities of this franchise is that it can’t get an actor to play John Connor for more than one film. He doesn’t appear in the first film, but in “T2: Judgment Day” he’s played by Michael Edwards (the future version, whose scarred face is repeated in Clarke’s makeup) and Edward Furlong (the kid version). In “T3: Rise of the Machines,” Nick Stahl took up the role, and Christian Bale took a break from Batman to play Connor in “Salvation.” Thomas Dekker has by far logged the most screen time as John, starring in two seasons of “The Sarah Connor Chronicles.” That’s six, but if you count the baby in “T2” and a younger John in “Chronicles,” that’s eight. By comparison, before “Genisys,” there had only been two Sarah Connors, and …
… Emilia Clarke is the cutest Sarah Connor so far. But she probably won’t go down as the best actress to play the role. I don’t feel she really earns the classic “Come with me if you want to live.” It was a great twist when the T-800 (Arnold Schwarzenegger) spoke it in “T2,” and Cameron could get away with it in “The Sarah Connor Chronicles” because Summer Glau is awesome. Apparently, it was said in “Salvation” by Kyle Reese, although I don’t remember that. The line has gone from cool to clichéd. On the other hand, I do think “Terminator” stories are helped by the presence of …
… Arnold, reprising his famous role for the first time in 12 years. When I saw Schwarzenegger (now 67 years old) in the trailer, I thought of S.M. Stirling’s “T2” book trilogy, which explains that the T-800 was modeled after an actual musclebound person with an Austrian accent – obviously Stirling was inviting the reader to picture Schwarzenegger. However, it appears Arnold is yet again playing a reprogrammed T-800 (his fourth distinct – but identical – role in the franchise, following the first three films; a CG Arnold also appeared briefly in “Salvation”). Because Terminators are “living tissue over a metal endoskeleton” (as explained in “T2”) it makes logical sense that the T-800 would “age.” But that also means that …
… This T-800 arrived in the past well before 1984 – perhaps in the late 1960s or early 1970s. And apparently he arrived in that time ALREADY reprogrammed as a good guy. I say this because the T-800 appears to gently carry a young Sarah (perhaps having rescued her from a water mishap) in a short clip in the trailer. When Sarah tells Kyle “We already took care of him,” I think she means she and the T-800 defeated the specific Terminator that preceded Kyle through the time bubble. Clearly, this is a battle-tested young Sarah (rather than Linda Hamilton’s initially tame version in the first film), no doubt trained in firearms by the T-800. So this explains the nuts and bolts of HOW the past was reset, but it doesn’t explain …
… WHO reset the past by sending back the good T-800 — this is the big unanswered question at the heart of “Genisys.” The good T-800 could be explained by another time machine and yet another “send back a protector” strategy on John’s part as the Future War goes forward. It could also theoretically be explained by other timelines, such as from the dangling storyline of “Salvation.” Such a scenario raises the question of how time travel could double as inter-timeline travel, but if we set that aside for the moment, perhaps “Salvation’s” John Connor sends back a good T-800 to the 1960s of the “Genisys” timeline. In “Salvation,” John is obsessed with finding Kyle and sending him back. That never made sense to me, because in “T3,” John Connor learned that past events are locked in (or at least inevitable to be repeated in each attempt at a reset) and he theoretically would not be motivated to send anyone back in time to protect his mom or himself. This is why …
… It makes me chuckle when Sarah says “We can stop Judgment Day from happening.” “T3: Rise of the Machines” was all about the inevitability of Judgment Day (and it led to two follow-up timelines – “The Sarah Connor Chronicles” and “Salvation” – that put alternate spins on the inevitable Resistance vs. Skynet conflict, one with corporate intrigue, one with war), and now the saga is back to trying to stop Judgment Day again. Granted, there’s no way Sarah would be privy to the events of “T3,” as they happened in the future and on a different timeline. But from the perspective of a franchise wanting to avoid be overly repetitive, it seems an odd choice. So maybe …
… “Genisys” isn’t merely a new-timeline telling of the old “stopping Judgment Day” story. Maybe the trailer just aims to throw us off. Maybe “Genisys” is something new, something that isn’t captured in the trailer, something that inspired Arnold to sign on. Or maybe time travel is just really confusing …