Terminator Genisys

Generating Genius

The extreme immersion in the 3D Imax experience is a spiritually gluttonous wondrous time spent well by all accounts but to add an extremely imaginative digital world of illusive special effects to the mix can really overwhelm and overload the senses.

This is not a bad thing by any standards since we go to these types of imaginative, futuristic films for that reason despite them being sequels in terms of a re concocted story line.

Terminator Genisys certainly manages to generate new themes allowing for a slightly different take on the characters' interactions with one another, although perhaps not elaborating character traits as much as creating new and fabulous special digital effects and very imaginative camera acrobatics.

The story is mainly the same: a handful of special heroes travelling back and forth in time to save the world but there is no pretentiousness in it and Arnie's sense of humour both real and acted lightens the repeated story line because he winks at us metaphorically: I am back (yet again) he is whispering to the audience, older but not obsolete, and he smiles viciously and 'robotically' at us too with his teeth rather than his eyes.

The characters interact superficially exposing their raw emotions throughout the film: love, fear, desperation and hope, and the main characters establish the family setting of: pops (Arnie as the dad this time), Sarah, the young heroine and her fated 'mate'.

There isn't much to say about how the characters develop throughout nor about the story line for that matter but we don't go to an Imax film to see a three stage act of Shakespeare and an elaborate complex dialogue, we go for the adventure and to immerse the senses in the intricate scenes and genius camera work displays.

From that point of view the film certainly does not disappoint: camera cirque du soleil standards of movements: fast, fluid close ups and medium shots, creating emotional scenes and lovely continuity.

The genius comes from the camera acrobatics in a couple of scenes (the bus scene and the helicopter scene): here the images are side ways and even reverse shots; upside down shots that look unreal but very realistic at the same time.
The music compliments these shots beautifully and these scenes are somehow reminiscent of the Matrix films where our senses exploded for the first time with this creative type pf film technique generating robotic movements but also anti gravitational shots.Gravity seems obsolete in this sky net world of genetically designed super fibre optic beings.

The other components of the film which are extraordinary are the special effects digitally super advanced images which created a sense of fluidity and continuity. Cells are exposed as one moving body of grey silver matter integrated and disintegrating at the same time in an array of colour schemes and circular as well as linear movements. (Again reminding one of the Matrix but in a much more complex and advanced way technically).

The themes of the film are still like the olden days of Arnie's heroism as the Terminator: future past and present interact magically to bring about the salvation of humanity against the machines. and genetically born beings can be similar to humans in some ways but not in others.

The concept takes us a little further in Genisys though in that there is a subtle hint at the soul of the machine. It begs the question of humanity becoming part of the machine (humour, love, empathy) and of the machine taking over humanity's soul by changing its molecular structure (no spoilers promise!). The idea here being that if a machine takes over it can change humanity to one of it's own soulless kind, whereas when humanity is in control, it can change a machine into a feeling being. This is a very complex moral dilemma hidden beneath the gloss of the super special effects but just as luminous in it's effects on the viewers nevertheless. There is a danger recently of being so involved with our 'machines' on a daily basis that we may become a part of them, part machine so to speak, almost an extension of the machine.

Arnie shines brightly enough as the non obsolete terminator with the heart of gold, with some cheeky old shots of his previous younger self slipped into the mix (abs and all), and this creates continuity within the film as well as with the previous ones.
There are also tongue in cheek references to him still being a star on the screen despite his greying hair and mayor status; 'wink wink' says Arnie, I'm still the same and I can still manage the old tricks of the trade.
He handles this well with a forced likable smile and a twinkle in his eye as well as the odd slap stick humour: not only is he back but he is OK with his age and apparently OK with a reference to him not speaking English, which was a subtle dig at his heavy accent and the fact that he may not be eloquent but he is likable on screen nevertheless and he knows it!

Hints at him remaining the Terminator for a while yet are a little worrying though since I would say this film stretches his Terminator years far enough; gracious and successful rather than over stretched seems to be the best policy but what do I know I don't live in Hollywood and I wasn't the governor of California.

Live long and prosper Arnie, but maybe consider 'terminating' the Terminator? because it's better to go out with a big bang of film glory than with a slow painful death on screen.
Somehow another Terminator role would likely 'terminate' his success in this latest one I fear and maybe even 'terminate' the fond memories we have of Arnold in all of his previous Terminator movies.