Movie review: ‘Terminator Genisys’

Someone needs to go back in time and stop movie executives from greenlighting more “Terminator” movies.

It’s not that Terminator: Genisys — a reboot that mixes and matches the classics The Terminator and T2: Judgment Day but ignores the less regarded T3: Rise of the Machines and Terminator Salvation — is a laughably bad movie.

Worse, it’s an interminably boring one.

Things kick off well enough as director Alan Taylor (Thor: The Dark World) plunges viewers into the big battle between humans and the machines created by Skynet, the global computer system that develops consciousness and decides to rid the planet of humanity.

John Connor (Jason Clarke, Zero Dark Thirty) leads the humans to victory, but something’s amiss. A Terminator (the younger version of Arnold Schwarzenegger) has been sent back to 1984 to kill Connor’s mother, Sarah, to stop John from being born.

Using the same technology, Connor sends his most trusted lieutenant, Kyle Reese (Jai Courtney, Insurgent), back in time to protect Sarah. But, in this timeline, Sarah (Emilia Clarke, Game of Thrones) is already aware of the danger she’s in, as she has been protected from an early age by a different Terminator (the current Schwarzenegger).

Now, they have to travel to the the year 2017, when Skynet goes online, to stop the switch from being flipped.

TG does have its moments. Seeing the older Schwarzenegger take on the digitally re-created version of his younger self is kind of fun. J.K. Simmons (Whiplash) as a bumbling cop provides a hint of comic relief.

But so much of TG feels like a retread of the superior first two “Terminator” films. The entire chase scene involving the shape-shifting T-1000 Terminator (Byung Hun Lee) could have been lifted from Judgment Day. Meanwhile, Courtney and Clarke, both generic in the extreme here, have little chemistry together.

There’s a major plot twist (that has already been leaked through the trailers) but it’s still not enough to spark flagging interest.

At just over two hours, TG wears out its welcome and, predictably, ends with a cacophony of explosions. Though, if you still care by then, stay through the credits for a hint of what’s planned for the next one.

Unless, of course, someone can jump back in time to stop it.

This story was originally published June 30, 2015 at 9:59 AM with the headline "Movie review: ‘Terminator Genisys’."