Future do-over

He's back

The very first R-rated film I ever saw as a kid happened to be Terminator 2: Judgement Day. At the time, the movie amazed me with its' special effects and the one-liners Arnold delivered. I can't recall how many times I asked my dad to rent that movie every time we walked into our local Blockbuster Video. Even though it's been 24 years since it first came out, not too many sci-fi films [or action films for that matter] have come close to reaching the same level of brilliance of James Cameron's masterpiece, not even the sequels that came later. Rise of the Machines wasn't too bad, Salvation promised too much, and now the latest entry, Genisys, acts like a continuation as well as a reboot to the

storyline. After John Connor (Jason Clarke) leads the rebellion to victory against the machines, Skynet employs its' contingency plan to turn the tide of the war: send a terminator back in time to assassinate John's mother Sarah Connor (Emilia Clarke). Kyle Reese (Jai Courtney) volunteers to go back and protect Sarah from the terminator as well as prepare her for what the future holds for her. By now, if you've seen the commercials or any of the trailers, you know that the timeline has changed. Sarah is now hardened and combat-ready, the terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger) is now protecting her instead of coming after her, and Judgement Day no longer occurs in 1997; the game has changed but so has the threat. Be prepared for some head-scratching concerning time-travel and alternate timelines; the movie can be confusing at first but near the last 40 minutes the film delivers what it promises. It may not carry the same level of depth as the second one did but then again to compare Genisys with any of the earlier films would be unjust. What you will get from this movie is some nostalgia fun and entertaining action, leaving an optimistic future for the franchise and where it will go next.

-Reviewed by Razor, 7/5/2015