HE’S BACK
Article by Adam Mast
It’s hard to not root for a guy like Arnold Schwarzenegger. He’s such a lovable dude and after all these year’s he’s still got it. To top it off, he’s self effacing and that makes him all the more endearing.
Following his lengthy stint in politics, Ahnold returned to the movie game a couple of years back with a handful of entertaining if slightly forgettable cinematic efforts including THE LAST STAND and THE EXPENDABLES. Now, the Austrian super star is digging into the vaults and bringing back some of his most beloved characters. Sequels to TWINS and CONAN are both in development, but first out of the gate;
THE TERMINATOR!
Many a fan will tell you that THE TERMINATOR franchise ended with James Cameron’s TERMINATOR 2: JUDGEMENT DAY. Well, I actually enjoyed THE TERMINATOR: RISE OF THE MACHINES. Director Jonathan Mostow is no James Cameron, but he has a great eye for action and that film ended on a ballsy note. Too bad McG had to muck it all up with his uneventful TERMINATOR: SALVATION. The long awaited look at the “future war” as presented in that film was less than stellar.
This latest TERMINATOR adventure has been in development for a while and THOR: THE DARK WORLD director Alan Taylor has been assigned the daunting task of returning this franchise to its former glory. When I first heard about this movie, I had a hard time getting excited about it. I was actually intrigued at the idea that Schwarzenegger would be returning but I couldn’t get jazzed about the casting of Jai Courntey as Kyle Reese. He was fine in JACK REACHER but I couldn’t stand him in A GOOD DAY TO DIE HARD. But then, it should be noted that I couldn’t stand much of anything in A GOOD DAY TO DIE HARD.
Then, there was the title; TERMINATOR: GENYSIS. WTF?!! A silly, nonsensical title if you ask me. But then, it’s probably unfair to judge the title without understanding the context.
As for early reports regarding the overall premise of the picture, that gave me a little hope. I found it curious and intriguing that this new TERMINATOR movie would play with time again and I dug the idea that this flick might re-visit moments from the first two pictures from different perspectives. That whole concept has a BACK TO THE FUTURE PART II vibe, and I dig that.
What little good faith I had was all but destroyed when Entertainment Weekly unveiled that embarrassingly lame cover spread featuring cast members in cheesy action poses. Still, I’m trying to reserve judgment until I see the movie in its entirety.
Now, we get a first look at what to expect from this movie by way of actual footage. The trailer for TERMINATOR: GENYSIS was just released and quite frankly, it doesn’t do a whole lot to restore my faith. There are a couple of shots that are cool. Re-created stuff from the first movie, a flipping bus, old Scwharzenegger firing a gun at young Scwarzenegger, etc. I’m also digging how Emilia Clarke really appears to be nailing the Linda Hamilton/Sarah Connor persona. On the downside, there’s call back dialogue overload and the overall feel of what’s going on comes across as incredibly labored…And unfinished (probably because it is unfinished.) Again, it’s just a trailer but between this, the Entertainment Weekly magazine covers, and that boring motion poster the studio released the other day, I’m simply not feeling it.
Furthermore, it doesn’t help matters that this trailer has a dark cloud hanging over it in the form of J.J. Abrams’ expertly crafted EPISODE VII teaser. That clip manages to make the upcoming STAR WARS movie feel new and old school at the same time. That’s a tricky balance to pull off, and this teaser simply doesn’t offer up anything that would lead me to believe there’s a reason for this movie’s existence.
Still, I’m a fan of Schwarzenegger and I am a fan of THE TERMINATOR so I’ll certainly be seeing this movie when it opens in July. I just wish I was more excited for it.
