We are still a few weeks away from the release of the fifth Terminator film, Terminator Genisys, and it seems the studio and PR department is already in spin control. The trailers have gotten progressively more convoluted, increasingly spoilerific, and no matter how much nonsense they throw into these previews, nothing seems to be helping the negative buzz surrounding what looks like a DOA tentpole for Paramount.
Time to bring in James Cameron.
The latest trailer, or featurette, for Terminator Genisys features Cameron endorsing the film and calling it the “third Terminator movie,” therein trying to erase Rise of The Machines and Salvation from our collective memories. Nice try, Cameron.
Here is the Terminator Genisys featurette:
So many things stick out here. At first, Cameron seems flattered that Terminator Genisys is mimicking his films, then he goes into his interpretation of characters like Sarah Connor. His interpretation. Then, after calling this one the third Terminator film, he goes on to say “if you like the Terminator movies, you’ll like this one.” Yeah, except maybe half of the existing films, right?
Cameron also confirms that the trailers have ruined what could have been a nice surprise, the fact that John Connor is a bad guy. The hero of three of the first four films is now a villain, and that’s just okay I guess?
If James Cameron wants to endorse Terminator Genisys, that’s fine. I still don’t buy it. There can be all sorts of motivations for Cameron doing this PR plug for a movie in which he has no involvement, but let’s not get into conspiracy theories. Let’s just point out the fact that Terminator Genysis basically erases not only the last two films, but the entire story told in the first two classics. “Hey, remember Terminator and Terminator 2? Yeah, those never happened.” What?!
The synopsis for Terminator Genisys does nothing to clear up this mess either. Maybe the biggest surprise of the summer will be the fact that Terminator Genisys is a good movie, and it certainly has potential to be entertaining in the least. But I have never had less confidence in a film going in, and this endorsement feels less like praise and more like a desperate attempt to remind everyone who made the first two superior films in the first place.
