Cameron saw the new Terminator and he liked it
The legendary director James Cameron is the helmer of the two top-grossing films in history: ‘Titanic’ and ‘Avatar’, he’s also known for creating the ‘Alien’ saga with the now iconic Lt. Ripley (played by Sigourney Weaver), and most importantly, he gave Jessica Alba a career back in the year 2000 with the TV show ‘Dark Angel’.
But he also co-wrote and directed the first two installments of the ‘Terminator’ franchise: ‘The Terminator’ (1984) and ‘Terminator 2: Judgment Day’ (1991). Two other outings kept the brand alive over the past 20 years, but without Cameron’s involment (fair enough, he was busy becoming the king of Hollywood) neither came close to the critical praise and popularity that he set for Sarah Connor’s time-travelling-shotguning-come-with-me-if-you-want-to-live first two movies.
Enter the year 2015, as we welcome a fifth entry to the franchise with the return of Arnold Schwarzenegger, dusting his cyborg/bodyguard rola, and now paired with Emilia “Kalesee” Clark filling Linda Hamilton‘s military boots in the lead role. Directed by Alan Taylor (‘Game of Thrones’ and ‘Thor: The Dark World’) the new film looks a bit wibbly wobbly time-y wimey and not in a good way. Sarah’s son is now evil, the Terminator is older (as in a robot with grey hair) and there’s no way to find out where the previous movies stand in the time line of the universe. Sure, it’s all time travel stuff so we’re not meant to overthink it. Take a look!
But this time, the movie comes with the seal of approval of its original author. Cameron claims he had nothing to do with the making of the film (he left out what’s his percentage of the profits) before praising the twists and special effects of the new film like “just a fan”. He said he went to a cinema screening and felt that Taylor’s take was very respectful of the original classic and went as far as calling it a “renaissance” for the franchise.
So maybe, just maybe, ‘Terminator Genisys’ IS wibbly wobbly time-y wimey in a good way, the Dr. Who way. “If you’re a Terminator fan, you’re gonna love this movie,” from the mouth of the master.
‘Terminator Genisys’ opens in Irish cinemas July 2.