Skydance Productions and Paramount Pictures originally confirmed that they would be working on the new upcoming Terminator Trilogy, which kicked off in 2015 with the release of Terminator Genisys. Not only did Arnie be back in action as the slightly dilapidated T-800, but there was also the new original T-800 for him to face, as well as a T-1000 to take down, and much more in the melting pot of robotic madness, so the scene was set for a whole new round of cybernetic mayhem, machine gun fire fights and frighteningly realistic melting metal machine mayhem.
With the release of the first film in the trilogy, the progress on the remaining two parts on the three have gone very quiet, leading to some questions about whether or not they’ll see the light of day at all. It’s not impossible that the production and distribution companies are taking their time to get the next move right, but we can say for sure that the Alan Taylor directed 5th movie in the sci-fi series wasn’t enough to fast track the next time traveling robot battle.
Release date
Terminator Genisys had a UK and US release date on on the 1st July 2015 bringing the ferocious tin men back from the future once again. As was the case with Back To The Future and its hover board, robotics haven’t managed to advance far enough to give us anything anywhere near as troublesome as a Terminator in real life, and long may that be the case (for a self aware robotic uprising – not hover boards, which we would welcome with open arms).
However, that was originally intended to be only the beginning of the story as Skydance and Paramount Pictures had also confirmed the release dates for both the second and the third installment in the series. Though the titles hadn’t been finalised, it was confirmed that the second Terminator 2 movie ever released was scheduled to uncurl from the fetal position on the 19th May 2017, while the series was then set to come to yet another end in the third movie on the 29th June 2018. However, following the first outing in the time-shift rejig these have been shelved for the time being.
Plot
The storyline for the movie doesn’t entirely continue on from everything that has gone before it, making it a sort of rework of the franchise, while still holding on to significant elements of the previous movies. While the film returns to what it did best with a Schwarzenegger powered Terminator sent back to the past to protect the Conner family bloodline and allow the future John Conner to succeed in bringing down Skynet, it also reshapes the timelines somewhat and provides a new plot for the future of the series.
The big difference is that when John sends his pal and fellow freedom fighter Kyle Reese, as he did in the original movie, back to keep his younger mom safe, he finds that she’s already got a T-800 looking after her. This older robot has been looking after her since she was a kid and suddenly the timelines have changed irrevocably and a new future is born.
This changes everything, as we suddenly have a young Sarah Conner who not only knows what’s coming for her, but has also been trained since the age of nine to be ready for it. The snag is that she isn’t too keen on the prospect of having her destiny set out for her, but with a new T-800 and T-1000 also on the loose in 1984, she’ll need to decide whether to stick with her guns or follow the advice behind the slightly aged shotgun clinging to Schwarzenegger’s metallic frame.
To add even more trouble to the mix, the most recent trailer shows that John Conner has been turned into a new variant of Terminator with the ability to transform at a micro level much quicker than the T-1000s. When he appears in the past with a new agenda, his mum, Kyle and the aging T-800 have to fight what they have been trying so hard to protect in a bid to save the world from what appears to be an inevitable robotic future.
Cast
In addition to Arnold Schwarzeneggar being back in the role of the time travelling robotic protector, the movie developers have also recently announced that they have also cast a more modern day sci-fi icon in the movie with Dr Who‘s Matt Smith as one of John Conner’s fellow soldiers in the future Skynet War of 2029. Emelia Clarke (Game Of Thrones) will star as Sarah Conner, Jason Clarke (Child 44) will play her son John and Jai Courtney (A Good Day To Die Hard) has been confirmed as Kyle.
If you’re wondering who the new T-1000 is in the trailer below, it’s South Korean actor and martial artist Lee Byung-hun, who you might recognise from his part in G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra. He had some pretty big boots to follow walking in the footsteps of Robert Patrick, who did such a stellar job in making the part so iconic in Terminator 2.
Production
The movie is the first stand-alone trilogy in the franchise and it’s been brought together thanks to the production might of Megan Ellison of Annapurna Pictures and David Ellison of Skydance Productions. Dana Goldberg and Paul Schwake, both of Skydance, are down as executive producers, and Laeta Kalorgridis (executive producer of Avatar) and Patrick Lussier (director and co-writer of Drive Angry) have written the screenplay for the opening movie. Alan Taylor (Thor: The Dark World) has directed the film.
Review
We weren’t 100% convinced about the potential of Terminator Genisys right from the beginning, as it’s been a very long time since a new movie in the franchise actually met and exceeded expectations. You’d have to go back to Terminator 2 for that. However, we couldn’t help but be intrigued by the prospect of the story, as the initial movies were such a big part of sci-fi cinema brilliance back in the 80s and 90s.
When we first looked at the trailer below we had a combination of positive and negative perceptions to contend with, which left us feeling just as unsure as we were prior to it’s arrival, and with the full release of the film we were still left clinging to the fence a little. The effects and action scenes are pretty good, and Swarzeneggar is as solid as ever, but Lee Byung-hun didn’t quite do the business as the new T-1000. Emelia Clarke comes across well as the action girl of the movie, but sadly Jason Clarke isn’t as impressive as John Conner. There’s very little of Matt Smith in the film, which is a big shame as he came across well, and Jai Courtney just about holds his own as Kyle. Read our Terminator Genysis DVD review to find out more about how we judged the return to judgement day.
