REVIEW: Terminator Genisys (2015) Screenplay
Runtime: 130 Mins (est)
What To Expect: A screenplay that makes Rise of the Machines and even Sarah Connor Chronicles look like master works
After I read the screenplay for RoboCop (2012) years ago, I thought there was nothing I’d read ever again that could be worse. Sitting here in despair and not too far away from rage, I have been proven wrong, since I have just finished reading the screenplay for Terminator: Genisys, an incomprehensibly awful piece of wretched shit. I hate and despise it, in so many ways that I can barely even articulate it. You think the pictures, rumours and trailers are bad? You ain’t seen nothing yet. This movie is going to be the end of Arnold Schwarzenegger, his career is going to finish where it started, ironically, down town Los Angeles, 1984.
This screenplay is obviously for a movie tooled for iPhone generation kids, the spawn of Transformers and Iron Man only with screenwriting the producers of those movies wouldn’t touch with a bargepole. It opens by explaining everything that has already been established, many, many times over, such as who John Connor is and what Judgement Day was. Nobody under 20 needs to be told what these things are. Go figure. From there, it takes a giant rusty hatchet to everything you’ve ever loved about the Terminator franchise. Kyle Reese is sent back to 1984 to protect Sarah Connor. A T-1000, T-800 and T-850 are also sent to 1984. But no need to worry, Sarah Connor is kicking ass with the help of an aged T-800, which has raised her from 1973, to deal with the problems.
What is this, Reese asks? Why it’s her ‘Pops’, hardened Sarah says, a father figure who has filled in for her murdered parents for the past 11 years, including watching Seasame Street with her and taking her to do the zoo. Oh yes, you see, the pensioner Terminator has also now developed feelings, which at one point are hurt by Kyle Reese, who is informed by Sarah Connor that he needs to be more careful around the robot when talking. I am not making any of this up. Schwarzenegger’s Terminator, by the way, will make the ‘Village People’ Terminator from T3 look resolutely mean and badass. Through time he has developed a sense of ‘humour’ too, for instance, with truly awful wisecracks that would even pass in a G-rated movie, let alone PG-13. He comes across to me less killer cyborg, more ‘Thor’. A big lovable oaf.
But if you think that shit is going to torture you, fear not, because the majority of the screentime is owned by Kyle Reese, played by Jai Courtney. I don’t know how this guy won the right to carry a Terminator movie on his back, but it shall be so. It seemed to me that he more than any other member of the cast was on every page, nearly every scene. Schwarzenegger’s Terminator shows up quite a bit too – don’t get me wrong – but it’s like he’s only there for crude brawling with numerous other cyborgs and shark jumping action such as acting as a cybernetic cruise missile taking out mid-air targets. That leads me to another point, there’s too much action, none of it impressive, and you get the sense that its relentlessness is to cover up the truly terrible ‘twists’. And they do materialize…
They have absolutely mauled Terminator lore here in trying to give it an edgy reboot. With terrible characters, a totally shameful turn for Arnold Schwarzenegger and a story that makes The Sarah Connor Chronicles look like a masterpiece – but all of this is before the final insult. I’m talking about the big one here. Worse than the horrific ‘daddy’s little girl’ plot arc, worse than the family-orientated action. Search the net, you’ll find out what I’m talking about. I’m so angry, I don’t even want to repeat it. Your reaction will first be disbelief, then laughter, then anger, then depression. It’s a plot twist involving John Connor and a state of the art virus. Sound bad? You really don’t know the half of it.
An absolutely terrible and atrocious screenplay. This movie is going to be really, really bad.
Mucho Macho
January 29, 2015 at 10:17 pm
Hey guys here is the
Terminator Genesys Super Bowl ad:
http://youtu.be/St-1YQyniG0
The Night Rider
January 29, 2015 at 10:30 pm
Thanks.
Mucho Macho
January 29, 2015 at 10:19 pm
Looks like”The Guardian” Terminator is not only going to be fighting other cyborgs from the future but also a lot of jumping sharks
CyrusTheVirus85
January 29, 2015 at 10:47 pm
as soon as Sarah Connor started talking about seasame street and being taken to the zoo by it, I couldn’t finish it.
Mucho Macho
January 29, 2015 at 10:56 pm
Screenplay sounds like:
⤵
The Night Rider
January 29, 2015 at 11:13 pm
When the pensioner Terminator refers to Sarah Connor lovingly as ‘my Sarah’, I was like…
Mucho Macho
January 30, 2015 at 12:36 am
So the moral to this story is that if Judgement Day is prevented & a Terminator stays on the planet as if..after a few years , The Terminator becomes a Big Pussy.
*No wonder The Terminator self terminated at the end of T2..he knew what would happen to him if he stayed…he couldn’t take it!!😆
🔽🔽🔽🔽
Mainline DnB
January 29, 2015 at 11:27 pm
Would like to read the screenplay myself, much as i’m sure i’d regret it. Can anyone steer me in the right direction? Had a look but no joy.
The Night Rider
January 29, 2015 at 11:28 pm
It was sent to me, so I don’t really know.
Saverio
January 29, 2015 at 11:41 pm
well…………fuck………….
Goro
January 30, 2015 at 5:39 pm
I was disappointed in advance when th trailer was released and PG-13 confirmed. I was sure about story being shameful. so no surprises.
LordArklon
February 2, 2015 at 5:17 am
I can’t find anything on the net about this supposed twist. Can someone either spill the beans or point me in the right direction?
Pussy Monster
February 6, 2015 at 10:30 am
Hopefully they change things in the script.
Kurt Montandon
February 15, 2015 at 10:48 pm
>”Nobody under 20 needs to be told what these things are.”
That doesn’t even begin to make sense. So … it’s people *over* 20 who need these things explained? You know, those of us who grew up with the franchise?
Yazman
February 16, 2015 at 12:37 pm
What? No, he’s just pointing out that people under 20 don’t need it explained to them. They already know. Just like they know who Luke Skywalker is. He’s not making a comparison to people over 20 with that comment.
Clyde
February 16, 2015 at 6:50 am
Next time write a review and not rant like a child. Where can I read this script?
radii
February 16, 2015 at 7:07 am
seen John Wick? … a script for a shooter videogame – simplistic and hackneyed even to 12-year-olds … this drivel is what they make now … gen-x and gen-y studio suits nepotismed into jobs and have never read a book and worry much more about product-placement time than story
mengy kun
February 16, 2015 at 2:29 pm
“Oh yes, you see, the pensioner Terminator has also now developed
feelings, which at one point are hurt by Kyle Reese, who is informed by
Sarah Connor that he needs to be more careful around the robot when
talking.”
Great, so he turns into a liberal social justice faggot.
shane
March 29, 2015 at 2:24 pm
True but i guess at least hes not a homaphobic cynic yeah, look they said salvation sucks and it doesnt although the first terminator was best.
Lets give genisys its day in court and then drag out the vomit bags .
ilikeit
February 16, 2015 at 8:59 pm
well, T2 was the same. Family movie with daddy t-800 and son connor. So, i think, this will work again for the new generation. I will watch it of course. I always asked myself, what if a Terminator had to live here with us because he couldnt travel back and/or finish his mission?
David
February 17, 2015 at 12:03 pm
Interesting article, but personally I want to give this movie a chance. No one realistically expects this movie to be another “Terminator 2” but that doesn’t mean it can’t be an entertaining movie in its own right.
You make your dislike for the Sarah Connor Chronicles very clear and yet many people (including myself) rated this TV show very highly, so I guess it is fair to say that just because you hate the look of this movie, doesn’t mean everyone else is going to.
soulassssns
February 27, 2015 at 4:44 pm
Your article is horrible and who judges a movie by an alleged leaked screen play?
soulassssns
February 27, 2015 at 4:45 pm
The skin is “aged” but the chasis underneath is still a T-800. Calm down you overly dramatic girl.
Vare
April 26, 2015 at 11:03 pm
I have 0 faith in this movie but this review is terrible.