Terminator Genisys.  Alan Taylor, dir.  This series is as tired as Schwarzenegger looks.  We have had a rash of series “extensions,” from Bourne to Ice Age and minions.  It’s all a wee bit tiring and shows that very little originality is left in Hollywood.  (With all the good books out there, is it just laziness or a shared myopia with traditional publishers, only betting on the “sure horses” even when they’re ready for the glue factory.)  That Damon-less Bourne flop should have been a lesson to the Hollywood moguls.  I guess Mr. S is in a midlife crisis and needs something to do beyond counting his millions—or his philandering costs a lot more than it should.  At least he’s not running for president—the GOP doesn’t need another clown (and he can’t run anyway—too bad California didn’t have a citizenship req to run for governor).

OK, I did have fun.  My tactic of viewing the original Terminator beforehand was smart.  There’s a lot more reference to that original in this new flick than in Jurassic World (see below).  Like that Star Trek movie, we’re now in a parallel universe—rather, timeline.  The changing timelines can be a bit confusing, though, but I’d have to watch it again to detect inconsistencies.  I suspect they’re there, but I was distracted by all the pyrotechnics.  There’s a hint at The Many Worlds Theory of Quantum Mechanics (not mentioned per se).  If you want a good time travel plot, read Hogan’s The Proteus Operation.  There’s a lot of action in that one too.

The first movie was a jump start for Cameron’s career—car chases and gun battles with guns that always seemed to have more bullets than they should.  I watched the original on TV the other night and wondered why I was originally impressed.  You’d think this one would be an improvement.  Nope.  Just more of the same.  (In that same theme, don’t miss the scene after the credits.)  Don’t waste your money on the 3D version—I didn’t miss it, and you can enjoy the nostalgia of the old flick a wee bit more.  Fortunately my tickets were free (our theaters have a point system—guess we see too many movies).

Of course, he’s back!  Did you know cyborgs age?  You can understand why Mr. S wasn’t naked in this one as a consequence (the original terminator, Mr. S in the buff, was either copied from the original film or computer generated).  Cheese Whiz acting on his part, as usual, but Emilia Clarke (a look-alike for Britt Robertson from Tomorrowland, who was a look-alike for Jennifer Lawrence from Hunger Games) was terrible as Sarah Connor—she fit the role of Sarah Connor like Tom Cruise in the role of Jack Reacher.  My guess is that diehard believers in the series (Sheldon and Leonard?) will be happy with this one.  I wasn’t.  My rating because of Arnold: B-.

Max.  Boaz Yakin, dir.  Great dog, great kid (dare I say Josh Wiggins looks like Tom Brady?), great kid’s girlfriend (to play against the Trump-like Mexican stereotypes?), and a lot of bad acting and overacting by everyone else.  I couldn’t help thinking that this was a dog’s version of American Sniper—war is hell for people and dogs.  The screenplay is disjoint—a bunch of band aids stuck on a barebones story?—and all too predictable.  Stereotypes abound, some good, some bad, and some ugly, but that’s common stuff from Hollywood these days.  At least this isn’t trying to milk a series for one more movie.  My rating: C+.

Jurassic World.  Colin Trevorrow, dir.  OK, I resisted seeing it, but someone dragged me along, and we had free tickets, having to pay only for those damn glasses.  Chris Pratt was great but the other actors not so much.  The special effects show the inexorable march of technology, but the 3D is only fun when the sparks fly at you from exploding transformers—definitely not needed otherwise, so save yourself some money.

This is Jurassic Park 2.0 with many references made to the original Crichton/Spielberg/Williams masterpiece (I would have liked to hear more of that original John Williams score).  Lots of stereotypes here too, with dinos better than humans at playing against stereotype.  It was all too predictable, especially the ending.  I’ll admit it was a wee bit entertaining—there was even a reasonable but predictable substitute for the lawyer in the outhouse in the original flick—but I’d rather have stayed home and read a good book.  What’s next, Mr. Spielberg?  A remake of Jaws.?  The return of ET? My rating: B-.

In elibris libertas….

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