Terminator: Genisys

Released:  July 1^st, 2015

Rated:  PG-13

Distributor:  Paramount Pictures

Starring:  Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jai Courtney, Emilia Clarke, Jason Clarke, Lee Byung-hun, J.K. Simmons

Directed by:  Alan Taylor

Written by:  Laeta Kalogridis, Patrick Lussier

Personal Bias Alert:  not into Arnold, never seen anything Terminator

7.2 of 10

            Yep, I was a Terminator virgin going into Genisys.  Neither the films nor the T.V. show had crossed my eyes, and outside the catchphrases and other rudiments that have seeped into pop culture, I knew zilch about their plots.  I’m an anomaly among avid moviegoers, some of whom are surely side-eying my self-proclaimed credentials suspiciously right about now, but trust me that I’ve seen a lot of films, enough to suss out the good from the bad, and can at least contribute a uniquely unburdened opinion on this wrongly maligned film.

            Terminator:  Genisys is a timeline-twisting tale, even without all the baggage of the previous installments, that roughly follows Sarah Connor (human from the past), Kyle Reese (human from the future), and Pops (terminator from the future) as they hop around in time trying to prevent the machines from overthrowing humanity.  Humanity is, of course, willingly setting themselves up for their own doom, a theme that’s ham-fistedly brought up and examined with all the depth of a bird bath.  Nearly all the film’s themes are this poorly handled, but this failure is an anomaly in an otherwise well-executed movie.

            For all it’s time jumping, Genisys is rather clear about the ramifications of its constantly shifting pasts and futures.  Some thorny problems pop up after you leave the film, the kind that plague nearly every time travel film, but the writers smartly give you something constant to track as the character’s do the time warp:  the blossoming bond between Sarah and Kyle.  Emilia Clarke and Jai Courtney, who play the pair, are seasoned vets when it comes to working in CGI-laced, big-budget affairs, and their comfort around these potential distractions certainly helped them stay focused on tracking the pair’s curious but contentious relationship.  Obviously, their characters have bigger things to worry about, which tempers how prominent this relationship is in the film, but they’re deft enough to add in the nuances even in the midst of the big action scenes.  It’s an easy layer to overlook, particularly given how their characters fade to the background during most of the big terminator fights, but their performances expertly service an ensemble film without going for too much.

            The real stars, of course, are the terminators, whose various models duke it out over and over again without falling into repetition.  Arnold leads the bunch as the oldest model, who must take on the much more advanced versions using trickery and ingenuity instead of brute strength.  The battles are wonderfully staged, particularly the early battles with the liquid T-1000 model, which unfortunately upstages the big finale.  Still, there’s plenty of action spaced out in the film’s two hours, and it’s this pacing that carries the film past most of its wrong turns.  Arnold does his fair share of the lifting, both literally and metaphorically, as one of the most believable and funniest over-60 action characters to date.

            Admittedly, Genisys does take some wrong turns early on, leaving the eventualities of the plot pretty easy to spot.  Perhaps having this blatant of an endpoint helps the whole film feel more coherent, but this fault doesn’t feel intentional like the other downsides seemed to be.  The later revelations are still played out like they’re supposed to be surprising, which they never are, and takes away from the film’s climax. 

            In reading the various reviews that are already flooding the internet, it seems everyone from laymen to professionals are pointing out different upsides and downsides to Genisys.  The consensus is certainly that it’s bad, but the reasons behind this opinion varies wildly.  As an outsider, I have to speculate that the disappointment stems from people’s love of the first two Terminator films and the fact that this isn’t similar enough to those movies.  But those films were released in 1984 and 1991, so long ago that the layout and pacing of films actually differ from their modern-day equivalents.  Genisys is a thoroughly modern blockbuster in terms of pacing and content, something that must be expected for a studio to invest $150 million, and it’s far from the worst of its kind to come across our screens.

Other Notes:

Ø  Beware poor casting.  They put a very famous person in a ‘surprise’ role.

Ø  Why are there gun stashes everywhere?  Wouldn’t someone have caught on that Arnold repeatedly buys an army’s worth of weapons?

Ø  The amount of times they destroy/wreck the Golden Gate Bridge has to be a joke.

Insurgent

Released:  March 20^th, 2015

Rated:  PG-13

Distributor:  Lionsgate

Starring:  Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Octavia Spencer, Jai Courtney, Ray Stevenson, Zoë Kravitz, Miles Teller, Ansel Elgort, Maggie Q, Naomi Watts, Kate Winslet

Directed by:  Robert Schwentke

Written by:  Brian Duffield, Akiva Goldsman, Mark Bomback

Personal Bias Alert:  liked its predecessor, read the book

5.3 of 10

            In defense of this film, I would like to point out that its source material isn’t that great.  I thoroughly enjoyed reading Divergent, even if it was a familiar and ham-fisted plot.  That’s why reading Insurgent was such a letdown, as the few interesting ideas that were present in the previous installment were dropped and the book became a chore to read.  The simple fact is that its author, Veronica Roth, struggles with plotting, character, and emotional description, leaving you with some thoroughly pedestrian writing.  That this series came after the popular and very well-written Hunger Games only accentuates its downfalls, so it comes as no surprise to me that the movie series takes a similar step back in its second outing.

            Insurgent picks up mere days after the events of Divergent, with heroine Tris (Shailene Woodley), boyfriend Four (Theo James), Brother Caleb (Ansel Elgort), and fickle alliance member Peter (Miles Teller) hiding out from the Erudite-Dauntless members who are trying to overthrow their society.  Remember, their dystopian society is based on splitting everyone up into different factions based on personality, making divergents like Tris and Four, who exhibit traits from several factions, extremely dangerous.  That last fact can mostly be forgotten, though, as Insurgent focuses more on Tris and Four’s attempt to take down the mastermind of the Erudite-Dauntless alliance, Jeanine (Kate Winslet), than any major attempts to root out divergents.

            One of the major downfalls that the Insurgent film is forced to carry over from the book is the overwhelming amount of plot.  In fact, the second book ends where most series would end, cramming what should have been two books into one so it can go off to who knows where in its third outing (which I haven’t read).  Pretty much everything else is sacrificed, most notably any hint of world building even as it introduces the audience to new factions within this society.  Without any examination, each new place feels so cookie-cutter thin that the system makes even less sense here than in the first film, and too often explosion-heavy dialogue is leaned on so it all makes sense.

            This was adapted by a trio of writers (which is rarely a good sign), none of whom have stellar track records (an even worse sign).  As I’ve said, they were given rough source material to work with, and even if they failed in certain areas, they did reconfigure the plot into a streamlined, quick-paced action story.  This, along with the brisk score, is the saving grace of the film, as any faults are quickly forgotten as you try to keep up with all the new developments.  Revelations and twists are being thrown at you constantly, and even though it’s frustrating that they aren’t being explored, Insurgent is a thoroughly entertaining ride while you’re on it.

            The Divergent series is rightly accused of being derivative of other YA series, but the film series does face one unique challenge:  almost every actor has a robust career outside the series.  Winslet, Naomi Watts, and Octavia Spencer have all been part of many financially and critically successful films over the past decade, and much of the younger cast have found similar balance in their careers since Divergent’s release.  Winslet, Teller, and Jai Courtney were so busy they were actually filming other movies at the same time as Insurgent, and perhaps it’s the combination of everyone’s busy schedules and the lackluster material that led to the uninspired performances that permeate this film.  Everyone seems only mildly focused, more spitting out the lines than imbuing them with any meaning.  The biggest letdown that stems from this is the complete disintegration of Tris and Four’s relationship, which Woodley and James pulled off quite nicely in the first film but feels entirely wooden here.

             There’s advantages and disadvantages to a dense plot, and most of them can be found in Insurgent.  While it barrels right along at a pleasing pace, it isn’t very engaging from an emotional standpoint, leaving the film entertainingly shallow.  You likely won’t hate it while you’re watching it, but you’ll also probably forget it as soon as the lights come up.

Other Notes:

Ø  The action is a bit underwhelming, with lots of running and gun fighting that is off-puttingly shot, and there’s nothing anywhere near as visually interesting as the fear simulations from Divergent.

Ø  Random Janet McTeer!

Ø  This is the first film I saw in Carmike’s ‘Big D’ format, which features a larger screen, bigger sound, and nicer seats.  The seats were comfy, but the larger screen made shots seem vaguely blurry and the sound was far too loud.