Terminator Genisys

Rating : 7/10
Release Date : 3rd July, 2015
Time : 127 minutes
Director: Alan Taylor; Writer s: Laeta Kalogridis, Patrick Lussier based on the characters create by James Cameron and Gale Anne Hurd; Music : Lorna Balfe with Hans Zimmer as Executive Music Producer
Starring : Arnold Schwarznegger, Emilia Clarke, Jai Courtney, Jason Clarke, JK Simmons, Byung-hun Lee

PS : Neither the film nor the review will make complete sense if you’ve been hiding under a rock, watching civilization pass you by and have never seen a Terminator film so far



“Old…but not obsolete” Arnold Schwarznegger is back…in the role that made him a superstar.

Two other actors I really like – the expressive Emilia Clarke, Khaleesi / Mother of the Dragons in Game of Thrones, and the jaunty Jai Courtney (from Jack Reacher) – join forces, as the younger Sarah Connors / Kyle Reese, to travel back and forth in time and prevent Skynet from ever taking over.

Jason Clarke (as John Connor), shortly after leading his troops to victory over the machines, somewhere in the future, realizes that they had sent a robot back to 1984 to kill his mother. To protect her, in a phase where he felt she would be at her most vulnerable, he sends his most trusted lieutenant, Jai (Kyle Reese) to do the job. But Jai, when he arrives, and meets Emilia (Sarah), finds things are anything but as predicted… with various killer robot models criss-crossing back and forth in time – Arnold Schwarznegger, Byung-Hun Lee, to name just two – you’re never sure who is really what they claim to be…

Arnold is a treat to watch – they tackle his ageing in a most delightful way – and his interactions with Emilia and Jai are well-written, especially a fake, polite smile he puts on, in an effort to blend in. Emilia and Jai are both excellent in their roles, bringing one half vulnerability, one half spunk to their characters. Jason Clarke is very good too, as is JK Simmons (the cop, finally seeking some answers), and Byung-hun (quietly menacing).

There is a lot of mumbo-jumbo about Quantum Mechanics, memory from two alternate lives, Magnetism. The logic behind a lot of events is highly questionable- and I’m being polite here – but we’re given a good, fun joyride – great repartee, engaging characters, scintillating special effects, a great (familiar) soundtrack and awesome action sequences – all of which ensures we walk out in a great frame of mind...

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Expendables 3

Rating : 5/10
Release Date : 22nd August, 2014
Time : 126 minutes
Director: Patrick Hughes; Writers : Sylvester Stallone, Creighton Rothenberger, Katrin Benedikt; Music : Brian Tyler
Starring : Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lungdren, Antonio Banderas, Wesley Snipes, Kelsey Grammer, Randy Couture, Terry Crews, Glen Powell, Victor Ortiz, Ronda Rousey, Kellan Lutz, Harrison Ford, Mel Gibson, Arnold Schwarznegger



The storyline, for whatever its worth, is childishly simple. Mel Gibson is the bad guy. Everyone else mentioned above are the good guys chasing him. So we have a two hour brawn-fest where people are killed, heavy artillery brought up, bombs dropped & thrown, cars & other larger vehicles blown up (Rohit Shetty, eat your heart out) and big buildings get demolished.

The climax is in fact so ludicrous, implausible that the good guys might as well be holding a placard which says ‘We’re the heroes, we cant be shot, hurt or scratched’

There are a few funny moments. And its nice, nostalgic to see the great action heroes of the past keep popping up, interacting with each other. Some of the action sequences are good. But overall, the film wears thin after a while, tries to take itself too seriously for something which is a tongue in cheek romp. You do wonder why some guys like Dolph, Antonio took the roles offered to them – they were major stars in their own right and their characters here aren’t very flattering. The moments spent trying to make us care, add an emotional quotient, don’t really work due to the wafer thin storyline.

This is almost like a video game in terms of the way people get killed, things get blown up. Only for Die Hard action fans, pun intended…

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Escape Plan

Rating : 5/10
Release Date : 18th October, 2013
Time : 116 minutes
Director : Mikael Hafstrom; Writer: Miles Chapman, Jason Keller; Music : Alex Heffes
Starring : Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarznegger, Jim Caviezel, Vinnie Jones, Faran Tahir, Sam Neill, Vincent D’Onofrio, Amy Ryan, 50 Cent, Caitriona Balfe

This works to the extent it does simply because of the personalities of the two leading men…and a little twist at the end that made a lot of sense…else, it’s a pretty average plot, lots of conversation, very little to show as far as any real ‘action’ goes and a pretty standard prison escape flick, albeit from a prison that is pretty high tech.

Stallone breaks out of prisons for a living, is somewhat of a legend when it comes to defining security protocols. Hence when the CIA wants to test an escape-proof facility for the scum of the Earth, who better to check it out than Sly ? The rest is standard stuff – the prisoner who knows his way around (Arnie), the evil ‘I own your ass’ warden (Caviezel), the sadistic prison guard (Vinnie Jones) and another prisoner, who heads the Muslim inmates (Faran Tahir). A doctor (Sam Neill) and Stallone’s back up team (50 Cent, Amy Ryan, D’Onofrio) have other interesting roles, along with Caitriona, who plays the CIA spook.

Prison movies rarely have a chance to show much humour. Add to that some of the sadism / torture scenes, necessary to establish the evil characters, the dimly lit corridors, cells and interior sequences, and the overall tone of the movie can be quite down. You do, however, want Arnie and Sly to break out, even if for old times sake, and so are reasonably engrossed in the ‘how’ for most parts. Its an average film, lit up only by the sheer heavyweight presence of its two macho, brawny stars, who still strut their stuff convincingly despite being in their sunset years…

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