8. ...But The References Become Heavy-Handed - Along With The Cliches
There's a fine line between successfully integrating nods and winks to previous franchise installments and shoehorning them in to the point of distraction, and it's one which Terminator Genisys struggles to pull off once the 1984 sequence is over and done with. If early reviews are anything to go by, references to Terminator 2: Judgement Day are far more heavy-handed than necessary; The Wrap describes the film's "attempts to make us care about the relationship between Clarkes Connor and the Terminator whos been protecting her feel a little too close to and yet too far from the bonding between Schwarzenegger and Edward Furlong in T2. Naturally, Arnie gets to deliver the line, "I'll be back", while having Sarah Connor reach out to Kyle Reese and say, "Come with me if you want to live" is a nice reversal of roles which will amuse fans, but for the most part the familiar lines and repeated visual gags "represent change for changes sake and 'improvements' that aren't." Broader cinematic cliches abound, as The Hollywood Reporter and others noted. "How many times have we seen the Golden Gate Bridge destroyed in a big budget movie in past years?" The answer: too many.