This is not review as such. I made review video earlier. I will spoil the movie in this post. If you want to see the movie you should not read this post since it has spoilers and it might make you reconsider seeing Terminator: Genisys. I won't go into how the movie feels more like series of scenes rather than whole movie. I don't have issues with John Connor being terminator. It is one of the few things making sense. Or it would make sense if there wasn't one thing I get into later.
There are no character arcs. Characters don't grow, learn or question anything. Everyone buys the premise from get go and don't change during the movie. Only Arnold's terminator changes but it is more of a upgrade than growth and movie would have been better without it.
In first movie Sarah Connor goes from pushed around waitress to mother of future resistance leader. In Judgement Day John Connor is youth criminal who learns his mother was correct. Sarah Connor tries to kill innocent man to stop judgement day but learns she can't do it. Miles Dyson learns his life work will cause end of the world and he has to decide between his life work and believing woman who just tried to kill him. Third and fourth movies also had some character arcs.
Terminator: Genisys has no character arcs. Sarah Connor and Kyle Reese find each others but that is because everyone has planned them to be together. There is no-one questioning the premise. Every main character knows war between humans and machines is real thing. Because characters don't change this is just series of scenes.
Main plot in all previous movies have been terminators trying to kill John Connor or preventing him born. Terminator: Genisys throws that to trash and it is Sarah Connor whose action cause John Connor not born at the time he was supposed to born. And what does that do to John Connor? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. John says they are somehow outside changes of history. Even when John didn't born when he should have he still exists. This sounds extremely stupid but it really happens and takes away most important plot point of previous movies.
Reason why John Connor will never born is Sarah Connor and Kyle Reese time travelling to couple days before judgement day trying to prevent it. No-one even mentions this will mean John Connor will not born when he should born or question if this makes any sense. Argument was should they go to couple days before 1997 judgement day or new 2017 judgement day. What was the point of going to future just before judgement day to stop it? Why not giving more time to stop judgement day?
Terminator: Genisys is first part of trilogy. It means it does leave things open. Who send Arnold to save young Sarah Connor and who sent all the other terminators to kill her and Kyle Reese? Sequels probably try to explain these and other inconsistencies. But based on this movie I don't expect explanations to make much sense.
Only Arnold is good in his part. Emilia Clarke can't fill Linda Hamilton's shoes. Linda was iconic in Terminator 2. Emilia Clarke doesn't look athletic or tough enough for the part and she has no chemistry with Jai Courtney. Jai Courtney is there. I don't know what to say about him. He wasn't bad just uninteresting and lack of chemistry didn't help. Jason Clarke was ok as terminator but too robotic as human.
I have to take my words little back, J.K. Simmons was ok for the little time he had. He is only one outside main characters to get any sort of role. There are no characters similar to two detectives of first movie or Miles Dyson of second movie.
Terminator: Genisys is series of action scene divided by uninteresting and unintelligent slower scenes with uninteresting characters we have no emotional connection with. There is only one interesting main character and he is robot. Emilia Clarke it hot though. Movie steals too much from earlier movies. I don't say borrow because it is giving nothing back. Story is just elements of first three movies told again from little bit different angle. It doesn't bring anything good to Terminator lore. It only makes it worse.
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