Terminator: Genesis

Rating: 8/10 (24 June 2015)

Every bit as relentless and single-minded as the latest Mad Max instalment – and possessing a similar number of car chases – The Terminator was the 1984 calling card of both James Cameron and Arnold Schwarzenegger. Sure, the latter had a couple of lousy Conan films under his belt, but here was a role that would make him a star and give cinema an antihero every bit as iconic as Hannibal or Joker.
The story is fantastically simple. In the future, machines take over, exterminating humanity from the post-nuclear wasteland. The human resistance is led by a man named John Connor. The machines send a "Terminator" unit (Arnie himself) back through time to kill John's mother, Sarah (Linda Hamilton). Meanwhile, the humans send a protector, Kyle Reese (Michael Biehn). The chase begins.
Imagine knowing nothing about this world. Imagine the shock of seeing Arnie laid low with a shotgun, only to rise time and time again. For the first third of the movie, beyond a title card, precious little is explained. All we're seeing is a woman stalked by two moody men. The idea for The Terminator was apparently born of a fever-dream, and with its flashback-forward structure and descending darkness it is drenched in sweaty helplessness.
It's also a masterclass in efficiency and visual storytelling. When it comes to filling in the backstory (here, a future-story), Cameron expertly brings convincing emotional weight to his exposition scenes. Reese is the emotive counterpoint to the dead-cold 101: his mission is driven by love. Not some cheesy, possessive love; Reece carries with him the hope of humanity. He loves John Connor (whom, intriguingly, we never see), so how can he not hold a near-biblical reverence for the mythic mother? Before Judgment Day gave us the powerful and handsome activist, the 1984 origin shows us the gentle, pretty Sarah. (Emilia Clarke has her eyes.) Yet her ascent to soldier is entirely believable given the unbelievable events swirling around her. Sarah is no damsel in distress; she's a warrior waiting for the right distress to unleash her potential.
The poodle-perms and mecha-synth music will either be seen as dating the film, or delivering pleasing period delights, depending on your viewpoint. But what will never date is the film's brutal purity. As we gaze at the poster for Genisys, with Arnie and Sarah pressed together in unity, let's not forget how scary and thrilling it was to see her terrorised... and then turn around and terminate his metal ass.