FRIDAY 03 JULY, 2015
ne of the most famous lines uttered by Arnold Schwarzenegger’s murder-powered cyborg is “I’ll be Oback.” And on July 1, the T-800 will once again be true to his word when “Terminator: Genisys” hits theaters. The fifth “Terminator” movie aims to robo-punch you right in the nos- talgia center, much like “Jurassic World” did, with its twisty, time-travel story that pays homage to the franchise’s first two films (while completely, and wisely, ignoring the existence of meh entries “Rise of the Machines” and “Salvation.”) To pre- pare you for another trip to the land of Skynet, here are all the things you need to know about “Genisys,” which picks up where James Cameron’s original 1984 film left off.
1. It’s a Reboot...ish After “Batman Begins,” the word “reboot” became the hottest phrase in Hollywood. And “Terminator: Genisys” is the latest product of that craze. Jason Clarke plays John Connor, a character essayed, in various points in the franchise, by Edward Furlong (in “Terminator 2: Judgment Day”), Nick Stahl in “Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines,” Thomas Dekker in the “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles” television series and Christian Bale in “Terminator: Salvation.” Emilia Clarke, from “Game of Thrones,” plays Sarah Connor, a character most famously played by Linda Hamilton on the big screen, and then later by Lena Headey on the small screen in “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.” Jai Courtney plays Kyle Reese, played by Michael Biehn in “Terminator” and in a deleted scene from “T2.” Most puzzling, South Korean dreamboat Lee Byung-hun plays the T-1000, a character origi- nally portrayed by Robert Patrick in “T2.” But Schwarzenegger remains, as a variation on his original Terminator character. So yes, all your favorite characters from the series have been recast with younger models. But, like all things in the “Terminator” universe, it’s a lot more complicated than that.
2. It’s also a remake Significant chunks of the film’s first act are comprised of recreated scenes and sequences from the first film, with iconic elements from the second film also added in. It’s basically a 2015 remix of key moments from the 1984 film; in fact, the film largely plays out like a very expensive “mad lib” to all things “T1” and “Terminator 2: Judgment Day.” This includes Kyle Reese and the Terminator returning from the war-torn future to the comparatively war-free 1984 (full of cold blue lighting and that sequence where Reese, fresh from his naked trip through time, steals a hobo’s pants.) It also includes a variation on the T-1000 mall battle from “T2.” These sequences have some wrinkles and some 5 Things you additions/embellishments, but some of them are virtually shot-for-shot recreations from those earlier movies. What gives these scenes an extra trippy quality is that a photo-real, CG version of the 1984 model is used, and it battles an older need to know version of itself (affectionately nicknamed “Pops”). Eagle-eyed “Terminator” fanatics will have a lot of fun looking at what the filmmakers recreated. There is, of course, a reason for all of this Xeroxing, and it has to do with the twisty, “timey wimey” before you see nature of the “Terminator” franchise.
3. There’s a reasonable explanation for why Arnold is old At one point, Reese brings up the fact that “Pops,” the Terminator model sent back to a time when Sarah Connor was a little girl, is, you know, old. (“But not obsolete,” as Pops reminds us throughout the film.) The explanation presented for why is, narratively, well- founded: Since the Terminator is a metallic robot endoskele- ton wrapped in living human tissue, the outer tissue actually ages. So the fact that the actor is older is actually justifiable. What’s more, Pops shows up in 2017 with silver hair. The “rules” in the “Terminator” universe are always sort of hard to pin down (particularly in this most recent installment) but this is one thing that does make sense. (Super-nerdy “Terminator” fans will remember that the flesh outside of Arnold’s original robot actually decayed, like a corpse. Remember the landlord who banged on his door wondering what had died in there?) Apparently, this model knows how to heal a lot better.