As a summer action flick, its awesome. As part of the Terminator franchise, it underwhelms. Let me throw this quick - this film is fun, cool, & action-packed. Its definitely not boring in any way. But the movie experience for me is less than complete, because the plot lacks the depth & significance, is a bit convoluted, and more importantly, the plot twist thing that shouldn't have been revealed in the trailers.
With a plot involving time travel, there should have been a lot of "Oh wow!" moments, but there aren't a lot of it. The time travel event feels less significant - as if the plot pushes the action from one place to the other, instead of the action driving the plot forward. It tried to be too smart and plays with an alternate timeline, but the rules & the parameters of time travel in this film isn't properly clarified (unlike that of Star Trek & X-Men: Days of Future Past). In the end, it becomes a bit over-convoluted, and I seem to put the plot aside for the more appealing action sequences. Even worse, is that a lot of the explanations is done by conversations within two characters - with exposition-like dialogues.
But the elephant in the room has to be the fact that the plot twist is being clearly shown even in the trailers. I have to say, when I watched the scene...there would be genuine SURPRISE if we didn't know what the plot twist was. (Spoiler paragraph below!). Furthermore, a lot of the scenes in the final act, in the bridge, etc are also already in the trailers...so a lot of the time, we are already expecting to see some of the things happening. (For comparison, no part of the final act of Jurassic World is shown in the trailers, at all).
But I'm not going to take away all the credit from the team, because its still a fun film with great action sequences and excellent visual effects. Arnold Schwarzenegger looks great in his most iconic role...even more so now, I'd dare say, than in his youth. (He's 67 now). Meanwhile the new casts aren't particularly spectacular - Jai Courtney & Emilia Clarke lacks chemistry - JK Simmons is great, but his character is insignificant. But Jason Clarke looks cool & badass, and Matt Smith's reveal is pleasing enough (because this is one of the few things I have been really eager to find out).
Verdict: 6.5
### SPOILER ALERT!! SPOILER ALERT!! ###### SPOILER ALERT!! SPOILER ALERT!! ###
A lot of you may have probably known about this before the film, like I do. But John Connor is to become the T-3000 and is the main villain of the film. Seriously, he looks cool & badass as the villain - seemingly smart & powerful, too. The problem is that his fate shouldn't have been revealed.
When I saw that scene when Pops shot John Connor...and then Kyle Reese goes on and claims that Pops is a killer. I thought it would have worked. People may have just been slightly inclined to think that Pops may still be the villainous character. And why not? That would have been a pleasant surprise. Just like how Sarah Connor, for a moment, turns to Pops with a gun. Seriously, it would have been a good double twist. Sadly, for a lot of us, that moment has been taken away.
Meanwhile, Matt Smith as Skynet's new face is cool. I still like to hear his voice, even when he's lacking the cheery charm of the Eleventh Doctor (Doctor Who). And here's hoping we get to see a lot more of him in the sequel. And...are we now to know him as Matthew Smith?
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