Terminator Genisys Reviews: 10 Early Reactions You Need To Know
5. The Performances Are Competent At Best...
When characters are as underwritten and underdeveloped as they are in Terminator Genisys, expecting great performances is a stretch. As the Hollywood Reporter noted, " Clarke can't do much to give dimension to the very one-note character of Sarah, and that goes double for Courtney as Reese, a role even more devoid of depth or wrinkles, physical or otherwise."
It's an opinion largely echoed in the review from Screen Daily, who said, "Clarke cant quite capture Sarahs bruising, haunted quality, a combination of brawn and vulnerability that came effortlessly to the roles original portrayer, Linda Hamilton. Instead, we get a simplistic Sarah whos a wisecracking, gun-toting smartass." But the real drawback appears to be Jai Courtney's Kyle Reese, a particularly damning assessment since the events in Terminator Genisys are seen from his perspective. Slash Film described Courtney as "a boring action star and has almost no charisma on screen" going on to describe how he "is even handed some funny lines that should pop, delivers them so horribly that the audience in my press screening was left in stunned silence." With the two leads proving to be either simplistic or uncharismatic, it's down to Arnie's cyborg to inject some personality into the film.