"Time travel!"
"When do we want it?"
"It's irrelevant!"
The critical vitriol for Terminator Genisys possibly stems from the fact that if you are not steeped in the Terminator mythos and do not have an tolerance for the inherent nonsense of time-travel and alternate timelines, then as a stand-alone this movie would make little sense. Even within those parameters, apparent plot-holes and moments that seem to baffle even the characters in the movie do not help, unaided by an oddly-paced screenplay. All is not lost, however. Against the odds, a now-aged Arnie works reasonably well, Emilia Clarke is a surprisingly acceptable alt-Sarah Connor, Jai Courtney is appropriately cast, and Alan Taylor directs some great action set-pieces. The fans can have fun as the film mashes up not only the four movies but also TV's underappreciated The Sarah Connor Chronicles, in spite of the pre-publicity insistence that it is a direct follow-on from Judgement Day. This is also a bigger problem: Genisys might play a bit better than Salvation and some aspects of Rise Of The Machines, but it does not even come close to Cameron. The biggest lesson not heeded from Salvation was making a crucial reveal in the trailer (and indeed the poster campaign), which here once again kills the impact of one significant twist. Envisioned as a part of a trilogy, characters and ideas are introduced and dropped which will presumably play a bigger role in the ensuing films, in which - hopefully - plotting and pacing will also play a more effective part.
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