Terminator Genisys
Paramount Pictures | Release Date: July 1, 2015 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
38
METASCORE
Generally unfavorable reviews based on 41 Critic Reviews
Positive:
5
Mixed:
24
Negative:
12
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
60
Total FilmJames MottramJun 30, 2015
Fresh cast, fresh ideas and full-on action gives Taylor’s reboot momentum, even if an overloaded script threatens to topple it at times. Doesn’t touch Cameron’s two movies, of course. Read full review
60
Arizona RepublicKerry LengelJun 30, 2015
Genisys is more entertaining than the last two installments, although it's not nearly as good as the first two. Read full review
60
Screen DailyTim GriersonJun 24, 2015
Terminator Genisys is a reasonably entertaining and niftily executed sci-fi action-thriller, and yet its ingenuity and craftsmanship are all in service of justifying its existence, resulting in a sequel that can be appreciated for its cleverness but otherwise regarded with a certain amount of ambivalence. Read full review
58
Portland OregonianMarc MohanJun 30, 2015
Terminator: Genisys isn't so much a sequel or a reboot but a piece of fan fiction come to ludicrous, big-budget life. Even for an unnecessary entry in a series of movies about indestructible time-traveling robots and genocidal computer networks, it's pretty silly. Read full review
50
SalonAndrew O'HehirJul 1, 2015
The ultra-tangled plotline of Terminator Genisys makes the rhythm of the action beats especially weird; we see the entire world nuked into rubble by the machine overlords really early in the movie, which makes it hard to get excited about a few buildings falling down later on. Read full review
50
RogerEbert.comChristy LemireJul 1, 2015
Schwarzenegger has turned into your elderly uncle, dancing like a goofball at your wedding after a couple glasses of champagne. He knows he’s being silly, and he knows that you know, and that alone is supposed to be good for a laugh. But it’s not. It’s just sad. He has essentially become McBain. Read full review
50
St. Louis Post-DispatchJoe WilliamsJun 30, 2015
This mash-up movie is like a greatest-hits collection for obsessive collectors. On its own terms, Terminator Genisys makes virtually no sense. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleJun 30, 2015
For all its weaknesses, Terminator Genisys is a "Terminator" movie that feels like a "Terminator" movie, more than did "Terminator 3," not to mention the ghastly "Terminator Salvation." Read full review
50
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperJun 30, 2015
The best thing in the movie is Schwarzenegger, who delivers the Guardian’s lines with perfect timing and creates an empathetic character, because as we know, nearly all the best movie robots somehow become just a little bit human as time goes on. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeTy BurrJun 30, 2015
"I'll be back," the man said, and he kept the promise, but I'm not sure we wanted him back like this. Read full review
50
New York PostSara StewartJun 30, 2015
[JK Simmons] provides a little comic relief, and sums up my feelings on this whole outing: “Goddamn time-travelin’ robots!” Read full review
50
The PlaylistRodrigo PerezJun 30, 2015
The fifth installment of the Terminator series cannot overcome the weight of its convoluted time travel leaps, its strained attempts at injecting twists everywhere, a clunky opening, and a painfully clumsy finish. Read full review
50
Tampa Bay TimesSteve PersallJun 30, 2015
Someone describes the T-800 as "nothing but a relic from a deleted timeline." Too harsh to lay on Schwarzenegger yet, but certainly it applies to the Terminator franchise. Read full review
42
Charlotte ObserverLawrence ToppmanJun 30, 2015
Schwarzenegger, weathered and ironic, strides through the film with old-fashioned authority. Except for Clarke, who walks an ambiguous line between heroism and sinister monomania, only Big Arnie leaves the slightest impression after the credits roll. Read full review
42
Entertainment WeeklyChris NashawatyJun 29, 2015
The story isn’t just confusing, it’s a betrayal to anyone who’s invested brain cells in the Terminatorverse over the past 31 years. Read full review
40
CineVueJames LuxfordJul 1, 2015
Terminator Genisys' ambition overrides sense and depth in the pursuit of a new direction, and then unwittingly proves how little life there is left in this franchise. Read full review
40
EmpireDan JolinJul 1, 2015
Director Alan Taylor handles the big action adeptly as he did in Thor The Dark World, but the script is an ever-decreasing cycle of tool-ups, chase sequences and daft monologues. Read full review
40
Village VoiceAmy NicholsonJun 30, 2015
Genisys is all bullets and bombs, action without pause, as though if the ride stops the whole thing will collapse under its own weight. Read full review
40
The TelegraphRobbie CollinJun 30, 2015
In practice, the interplay between events old and new is equal parts tedious and indecipherable, with the characters talking about parallel timelines like studio executives thrashing out a franchise in a boardroom. Read full review
40
The GuardianHenry BarnesJun 30, 2015
Salvation was boring, but Genisys makes you sad. Risk-averse Hollywood has made a crash-test dummy of a once great franchise, simply throwing everything at it to see what it stands. Read full review
40
Time OutJoshua RothkopfJun 30, 2015
Fans hoping to watch Schwarzenegger growl his catchphrases with a slight edge of shtick are underestimating the patience involved in sitting through a two-hour slog. As for those who want a little apocalyptic tension or (dare to dream) romance, this new model is not for you. It’s the Skynet cut. Read full review
40
The DissolveKeith PhippsJun 30, 2015
The setpieces, in addition to mostly rehashing better scenes from earlier films, feel thrown together to serve the effects, and the effects look far less astonishing than anything in Cameron’s first two films. Read full review
40
TheWrapJames RocchiJun 24, 2015
The stunts and CGI and attendant action scenes are all simply fine; there’s nothing here with the stark simple power of “The Terminator” or the strong-but-strange brilliant inventions of “Terminator 2.” Instead, it’s all less-than-spectacular “spectacle” and plot convolutions twisting around themselves at the whim of the summer’s least interesting killer artificial intelligence. Read full review
40
VarietyJustin ChangJun 24, 2015
For all its initial playfulness, the script never rises to the level of surreal, cortex-tickling pleasure it seems to be aiming for, and for all its self-awareness it’s weirdly devoid of humor. Read full review
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