Terminator: He's Back

It all started with one word: Skynet. It was a system that launched a full-scale war between humankind and technology. A corrupt and wicked error that turned “living” weapons against us, masquerading as friends, family, and neighbors. A system rightly dubbed, the Terminators.

Now, I don’t know about you, but I practically grew up on the Terminator series. It was the perfect combination of butt-kicking heroines, power-hungry robots, and explosive action that I could have ever hoped to watch as a small child. And seeing the trailer for the newest addition to the multi-million dollar franchise, Terminator Genisys, brought the tiny part of me still emotionally attached to this series colliding out.

Originally written by James Cameron and Gale Anne Hurd, the original Terminator series is about a bunch of futuristic cyborgs being sent back in time to try and kill the leader of the Resistance (back in their own time): be it by killing his mom, his dad, or he himself. The name John Connor might be familiar. It’s a series that dabbles in everything science fiction, in one of the most comprehensive ways that we know. True, it puts its roots in a type of paradox theory that isn’t altogether logical, it is arguably the movie that propelled the idea into mainstream.

It looks like Terminator Genisys, now directed by Alan Taylor, is once again putting Sarah Connor in the spotlight as Kyle Reese is sent back to “protect” her from being killed (given that she’ll come to be the mother of humanity’s leader). It’s not something that’s not often seen in Terminator adaptions: protect Sarah, save John, win the war. But, the film takes an interesting twist as this Kyle is sent back into a different timeline, one where Sarah Connor seems to be able to handle herself quite well (as she always has) and is determined to prevent Judgement Day from happening. Again, not a big plot difference but this time she has a little help from an unexpected mentor.

In a not so surprising twist, Arnold Schwarzenegger returns to one of his most notorious roles as the Terminator. We can catch a glimpse of him, with his iconic deadpan, steel-eyed look, jumping into the fight of events as he is to do. But it also looks like this time, his Terminator self is leaning on the “living-tissue” spectrum of sci-fi elements, as we see his outside change into someone older.

Overall, the plot (while mildly recycled) looks interesting, Sarah Connor is flawless, and the Terminator is back.