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[Review] ‘Terminator Genisys’ Feels As Robotic As Its T-1000s

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Terminator Genisys, image via Paramount

In a world where humans are the minority, and our own technology has united against us in the mission to rid the earth of organic life for good, it seems that only defeat lies ahead for these once powerful nations. It’s just a few years after Skynet, a highly intelligent computer program integrated into every facet of society, wiped out billions of lives in a single moment. Known to the few survivors as “Judgment Day”, this devastating event marked the time when hope seemed all but lost for the future of humanity. Then came John Connor. A powerful leader characterized by perseverance and scars that suggest he’s been down in the trenches, Connor is a revolutionary in a time of passive resistance; a man who took it upon himself to rally what was left of the humans to fight for survival, urging his fellow men to defend themselves, and declaring the war far from lost. A shining beacon of hope, John leads the human resistance in the fight against Skynet and its army of artificially intelligent killing machines. However, the more battles he wins against the machines, the more impervious their plans become, as Skynet develops a way to win this war before it ever started. By using their advanced technology to send a Terminator back to 1984 to kill John Connor’s mother, Sarah, before she ever gives birth to John, they seek to end the timeline of the man who could possibly put a permanent halt to Skynet’s plans.

Luckily, John has a counteractive plan of his own. He’ll send one of his own men back to stop the Terminator, and save Sarah so that she may live on to give birth to humanity’s only hope. Kyle Reese, a man that John took under his wing when he was only a boy, seems best suited for the job, not only for his courageousness, but for his innate loyalty to John and the resistance. (Little does Kyle know, but in the end, his life will play a much bigger role than that.) John tells Kyle that when he returns to 1984, the Sarah Connor he meets will be nothing like the one that he has spent hours recalling; the strong, independent Sarah that taught John how to fight back against the machines, and how defiance is one’s greatest weapon in the face of persecution. The Sarah Connor from 1984 is not privy to the path that lies ahead of her, and will appear more like a damsel in distress than the fierce warrior that John has spent so many nights describing. Kyle feels prepared for his journey, but when he arrives in 1984, it seems that Skynet has bested him once again, prompting the timeline to speed up after they send a Terminator to kill nine-year-old Sarah Connor, shoving her into a harsh, survivor-driven adulthood long before she should have known the realities its struggle.

Terminator Genisys mixes The Terminator and Terminator 2: Judgment Day together to create its new, updated timeline that ignores both the third and fourth installments in the series. Like its predecessor Terminator 2, this entry also pins Terminator against Terminator. However, it differentiates itself by managing to remain relatively bloodless throughout the entire 126 minute runtime. There are some pretty ludicrous fight scenes that entertain simply because they are so elaborate, but it soon becomes clear that most of this Terminator-on-Terminator action is for the benefit of the PG-13 rating; an incentive that didn’t hold back the R-rated source materials from which the film so heavily borrowed. This rating becomes glaringly more obvious during the Genisys time travel sequences (of which there are many), which feature time travelers who are forced to shed their clothes to ensure a safe passage, only to be captured by awkward camera angles that desperately try to hide any nudity that would send the film’s sin quota over the edge into R-rated territory. It’s strange to call a film that features a helicopter swerving through the chains of the Golden Gate Bridge “watered down”, but that’s how this addition to the Terminator franchise honestly comes across; a 2015 film that feels safer than its thirty-year-old originator.

Terminator-Genisys-Pictures

Another thing that seems off about the new Terminator is the message it sends about Judgment Day. Despite the fact that this concept was originally created from a place of inevitability, Genisys seems to say that humans have doomed themselves, and that they are getting what they rightly deserve. James Cameron showed with concerned compassion how our need to progress often coincides with the need to conquer, and how our push to make machines intelligent and integrate them into our lives would eventually backfire if we weren’t careful. Genisys shames its viewers for being too obsessed with their cell phones. Although the message is oddly fleeting, it’s a rough one. It also plays into the rest of the film, which feels cold and distant, as the characters constantly talk about the fate of the future, and not the genocide that awaits the present; billions of innocents caught in the wake of Skynet’s destruction, and it seems that the only life that matters in this movie is John Connor’s. Despite solid performances from Emilia Clarke and Arnold Schwarzenegger, their moments of bonding are limited and reserved for build ups to action sequences. Perhaps if we had seen more encounters between the two, or between the Schwarzenegger and Jai Courtney their characters would elicit more sympathy, but the truth is, the feeling of being helpless against a massive, indestructible force like Skynet and knowing that you can’t do anything to save the countless lives around you is a state of mind that is simply absent from the latest entry in the series.

Aside from its mean-spirited, albeit brief message blaming humans for their own destruction, and its failure to add anything new to the three-decade-old franchise, the timeline just does not make sense, and the ending undoes all of the work that has been achieved throughout the film. But most importantly, Terminator Genisys lacks the heart and humor of the original Terminator films, which, ironically, is what made them so human. Every moment of dialogue is just a predecessor for the action. The dread and frustration of knowing the future and not being able to stop it, the “us against the world” mentality, and the desperation to save mankind — these emotions that saturated the original entries take a back seat to perfectly poised, attractive actors. This is a story that relies so heavily on appearances that its villain removes his physical flaws as soon as he reveals himself. It’s unfortunate that a movie about saving humanity goes through the blockbuster motions so much that it winds up feeling robotic, but that’s the case here. Terminator Genisys is one of the most action-packed, busiest films of the summer, and yet…nothing really happens.

Books

‘In Search of Darkness’ Book Review: A Must-Have for ’80s Horror Fans

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In 2019, the documentary of 80s horror In Search of Darkness became an instant hit with horror fans. Now, a beautiful coffee table style companion book is available and is a must-own for all fans of one of horror’s greatest eras. The book is a walk down the horror aisle of the best mom and pop video store in the heyday of VHS, featuring full color photos, poster art, insightful essays and more. More than just a nostalgic throwback, In Search of Darkness is the kind of book I wish I’d had back in my years as a burgeoning horror fan but is also satisfying for the film fanatic I have become in the years since.

The format is beautifully and simply laid out, with at least a dozen (usually more) movies from each year of the decade presented in order of release accompanied by informative and insightful essays by the authors Heather Wixson and Patrick Bromley. Both authors have been mainstays of film journalism, specializing in horror, for many years. Wixson began her career in 2007 with Dread Central and has spent the past ten years as the Managing Editor of Daily Dead, from which she recently retired to focus on books and other projects. She has devoted the past several years to interviewing and writing books about the Make-up and Special Effects wizards that have brought so much to film over the years, specifically the horror genre.

Bromley is a film journalist and critic whose work can be found all over the place including right here on Bloody Disgusting. He recently provided the commentary for the Vinegar Syndrome release of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 and is known as something of a Tobe Hooper expert. He is also the founder and editor of F this Movie!, an eclectic film website, and host of its accompanying podcast. So, to be clear, the authors know their stuff.

Wixson and Bromley divide writing duties roughly in half and though each has a distinctive voice, their writing styles dovetail beautifully into a cohesive whole. Each author plays to their strengths. Being familiar with both their work I didn’t even have to look at the bylines to know that Heather covered Christine and Terror in the Aisles and Patrick took on The Funhouse and Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers. Wixson’s passion for make-up effects is clear and comes through in many of her contributions. In general, Wixson takes on the “big” titles, the movies that defined the decade the most, and Bromley covers what the more cynical among us might call schlock, but he would likely call pure cinematic bliss. There are exceptions and surprises, of course, as there should be (Patrick covers The Shining for example). Each essay dives into the history behind the film, the major players involved, the reception, and legacy with often surprising aspects drawn from interviews with the filmmakers from various sources and insights from the authors.

For all their in-depth explorations of each film, in general the authors keep their critics’ hats safely stowed, keeping in mind that every entry on the book has its fans. In fact, they may well have sold me on finally hitting play on some of the schlockier offerings of the decade like Evilspeak, Nightbeast, and Blood Diner. Hell, I may even give The Beast Within a spin for shits and giggles. The point is that this book is a celebration through and through. The authors are honest about the critical receptions of the films, which were often unkind, and sometimes let their own opinions shine through, but recognize how beloved even the schlockiest films can become given time and availability. And that is an ongoing theme of In Search of Darkness. What may have been dismissed in its day often becomes revered as the years pass. Variations on the phrase “the years have been kind to…” referring to various maligned projects like The Thing, Halloween III: Season of the Witch, The Blob and many, many others, can be found throughout the book for good reason.

Each chapter of the book also includes a rundown of the top horror movies at the box office for the year as well as the top movies of all genres for context. The final page for each year highlights some of the major news and pop culture events including the top songs, albums, and television shows. There is a large central section that pays tribute to the talent involved with the greatest horror films of the 80s including directors, actors, effects artists, and more. This section includes brief biographies of John Carpenter, Wes Craven, Stephen King, Tom Savini, Barbara Crampton, Robert Englund, and many others presented in a dynamic and engaging fashion.

One of the beauties of the book is that it covers so much ground. Sure, you’ll find Friday the 13th, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Hellraiser, and the Halloween sequels in it, but you’ll also find deeper cuts like The Changeling, The Being, and Tetsuo: The Iron Man. I was happy to find the same love given to Frank Henenlotter and Larry Cohen as to George A. Romero and David Cronenberg. In other words, In Search of Darkness is extraordinarily eclectic, highlighting the diversity that truly defined what is often viewed as a homogenous decade. The authors make the case that the 80s was horror’s greatest decade, and with what they lay out throughout this book, it’s tough to argue against that. I even came across a film or two I hadn’t even heard of before, which has become increasingly rare as the years go by.

At just shy of $85, the cover price may give some horror hounds pause, but believe me, it’s worth every penny. This is a beautiful volume that every fan of 80s horror will want on their shelf or prominently displayed on their coffee table. Filled with favorite titles, hundreds of full color photos, insightful and informative writing, this is simply a must own.

You can order your copy now.

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