Terminator: Genisys (4 Stars)

According to the Guardian's film critic Joe Queenan, this film "is just plain awful". I don't want to quote the reasons for his opinion here, so read his review for yourself. Many other critics agree with him, some going as far as to call it one of the worst films of 2015. As you can see from my rating I don't share their opinion, but it's not as good as the first two films, and doesn't even live up to the third film. At least it's better than the fourth film, which was intended to be the first part of a new Terminator trilogy -- a plan that was rightly abandoned.

Now "Terminator: Genisys" has been made, which in turn was intended to be the first part of a new trilogy. Whether this will actually happen is still unclear. First it was said that the trilogy had been cancelled because "Terminator: Genisys" had made a loss. I don't understand this. The budget was $155 million, and it earned $440 million at the box office. Usually, if a film earns double its budget it can be assumed that the film made a profit, after expenditures. Then there's the additional income from Blu-ray and DVD sales, so I don't understand at all how the film failed to make a profit. In January this year Arnold Schwarzenegger said that another Terminator film will be made, but he didn't confirm there would be a trilogy. No release date has been announced, so it might just be wishful thinking on Arnie's part.

The greatest strength of the Terminator franchise is at the same time its greatest weakness: Arnold Schwarzenegger. It was his iconic performance in the first two films which made Terminator famous. In an interview in the Blu-ray extras Emilia Clarke, who plays Sarah Connor, says that she can't imagine a Terminator film without Arnold Schwarzenegger. That's the hurdle we need to cross. Terminator needs to find a future without Arnold. The initial reaction might be disappointment, but if it's a first class story the fans will be won over.