One thing 2009's Terminator Salvation made clear was that people did not want to see a Terminator movie that did not have Arnold Schwarzenegger in it.
TERMINATOR GENISYS
Director: Alan Taylor
Cast: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jason Clarke, Emilia Clarke, Jai Courtney, J.K. Simmons, Byung-hun Lee, Matt Smith
Rating: (M)
Four stars (out of five)
Which posed a bit of a problem for the studio: Arnie's not getting any younger and robots are not supposed to age.
Add to that the franchise rights revert to James Cameron in 2019 and the studio's desire to squeeze out three new Terminator films while they have those rights.
Given that it is a pretty blatant money grab, Terminator Genisys (Rialto and Readings) treats its audience with more respect than you would expect.
It is jokey and self-referential but not in a smug way.
We start with John Connor (Jason Clarke) sending his second-in-command Kyle Reese (Jai Courtney) back in time to save his mother, but this time when Reese catches up with Sarah Connor (Emilia Clarke) she is a very different person from the scared young woman in the original film.
She has been preparing for Judgement Day since she was 9 and has her own personal terminator Guardian, whom she calls Pops.
She knows that she and Kyle are supposed to fall in love and have a child, but she is resentful at seeming to have no say in her own life.
Terminator Genisys successfully continues the time-travel conundrums of the earlier films but is unlikely to bring new fans into the tent.
