'Terminator Genisys' Movie Review: Arnold Is Back!

— -- Starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jason Clarke and Emilia Clarke

Rated PG-13

Two out of five stars

The beginning of "Terminator Genisys" is promising. We’re treated to a voiceover by Kyle Reese (Jai Courtney), explaining what life used to be like on Earth before “Judgment Day.” If you’re unfamiliar with the "Terminator" mythology, "Judgment Day" is when Skynet -- aka the machines -- nuked and took over the planet. Some humans survived the nuclear holocaust and, led by John Connor, eventually rose up against the machines. Kyle tells us all about John and what a swell guy he is. Some even think he’s a prophet.

When we finally see Reese, it’s the year 2029 and the humans are about to engage the machines for the final time. John (Jason Clarke) wants Reese by his side during the final assault. I won’t tell you how the battle goes, but I will tell you that this is when the action of the first "Terminator" movie begins -- the original Terminator gets sent back in time to kill Sarah Connor to prevent John from ever being born, then shortly thereafter, John sends Reese back in time to protect Sarah.

When Reese shows up, he’s actually saved by Sarah Connor, played by Emilia Clarke (aka Daenerys Targaryen aka Khaleesi aka Mother of Dragons from "Game of Thrones"), and an older version of the original Terminator (Schwarzenegger), who’s been protecting Sarah her entire life.

Something else changed as well as Reese was being sent back: Sarah knows all about him and the future -- including that Judgment Day is supposed to happen on August 29, 1997. Reese also suddenly has all of these memories he didn’t have before and, based on what John told him, Sarah isn’t who he thought she was supposed to be. Confused? Maybe I can build you a tactical time displacement weapon so you can travel back in time and re-read what I wrote.

At the heart of "Terminator Genisys" is, well, I’m not really sure. I can tell you it’s trying to make a statement about appreciating our humanity but it really just seems more like a desperate attempt to bring the Terminator franchise back to life, although it’s cool to see Schwarzenegger as an old Terminator. They even give us a relatively plausible reason why he, a machine, ages.

Sure, there’s some fun to be had here, but the total disregard for creating an intelligent, well thought-out story based on one of our greatest sci-fi movies is frustrating. As is often the case with movies involving time travel, there are also causality issues a savvy 12-year-old probably could’ve handled better than the creative team here did.

"Terminator Genisys" tries very hard to have heart and be somewhat coherent, but it fails on most levels. At least it’s fun to look at.