Nothing helps a movie more than lowered expectations, and I’m not sure I could have walked into Jurassic World with my expectations any lower. Walking out, the story and character development delivered on expectations, but I was wowed by the sheer spectacle of it all. Next up, Terminator Genisys, which looks even worse based on the film’s trailers and today we get a new bus-flipping clip from the film that looks like it’s taking the overturned semi from Christopher Nolan‘s The Dark Knight to another level, and setting it on the Golden Gate Bridge a la Rise of the Planet of the Apes only this time it’s a robot fight rather than an ape fight.
Much of the marketing for this new Terminator has made it look like a movie we’ve seen before — if not previous Terminator movies then other movies such as what I mentioned above. This can work for and against a film, depending on how it plays. For example, I absolutely loved the T-Rex moment in Jurassic World, realizing it was playing on my memory of the first film, other nods to the first film and its attempt to have its cake and eat it too when it comes to mocking blockbusters didn’t necessarily work as well.
In truth, I half-expect Terminator Genisys to deliver a little more on story than Jurassic World and a little less in spectacle. Though, I never would have thought Jurassic World could actually impress me from an action standpoint. So, who knows?
One thing I know is Universal screened Jurassic World well in advance, the Terminator Genisys screening here in Seattle is only a day before it begins hitting theaters and that’s rarely a good sign.
When John Connor (Jason Clarke), leader of the human resistance, sends Sgt. Kyle Reese (Jai Courtney) back to 1984 to protect Sarah Connor (Emilia Clarke) and safeguard the future, an unexpected turn of events creates a fractured timeline. Now, Sgt. Reese finds himself in a new and unfamiliar version of the past, where he is faced with unlikely allies, including the Guardian (Arnold Schwarzenegger), dangerous new enemies, and an unexpected new mission: To reset the future…
Directed by Alan Taylor
Starring: Jason Clarke, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Emilia Clarke, Jai Courtney, Byung-hun Lee, Dayo Okeniyi, Matt Smith and J.K. Simmons
In theaters: July 1, 2015
