Terminator Genisys: Ranking The Franchise From Worst To Best
6. Terminator Genisys
Stop if you've heard this one before; after a protracted battle for the rights, a new studio took on the Terminator franchise and promised to deliver the sequel we'd all been waiting for, as well as launching a new trilogy of movies in the process. An often-confusing hybrid of remake, sequel and reboot, Genisys offered yet another disappointing addition to the Terminator canon.
The movie has a strong central idea in both recreating and deviating from the timeline established in James Cameron's original but the script isn't good enough to pull it off, and ends up with a ludicrous plot full of exposition, book-ended by several chase sequences. The John Connor-related twist would have been a great reveal midway through the movie, but for some reason the studio decided to spoil it in the marketing, taking away any element of surprise the narrative might have.
That being said, Arnold Schwarzenegger slips seamlessly back into his signature role and provides most of the movie's highlights, although Jai Courtney once again fails to display any kind of screen presence and charisma with his bland turn as Kyle Reese. Director Alan Taylor is a safe pair of hands behind the camera, but fails to deliver any of the style or intelligence necessary to back up claims that Genisys was designed as a 'true sequel' to James Cameron's two Terminators.