IanAJohnson

Terminator Genisys is the fifth installment in the Terminator franchise. This one attempts to spice up the timeline by placing two more terminators far enough back in time to interfere with the events of the first film. I am going to come straight out and say that this is not a terrible film, but it is a terrible Terminator film. The first thing that bothered me was the casting. Not a single actor that portrayed a franchise character (other than Arnold Schwarzenegger of course) felt like the character they were supposed to be playing. The acting wasn't bad; it was just off. Not only is that off-putting, but this by far the most convoluted plot in the franchise. One of the subtle beauties of the previous films is that while time travel is involved, each film takes place chronologically after its predecessor. Skynet tries to kill John Connor's mother, then John as a child, then it runs into him as an adult. This might not seem like much but it keeps the time travel incredibly simple and vague. There was no way for the audience to determine whether or not it is possible to change the future in the long-term (a major philosophical question that the franchise asks the audience). This film removes that aspect completely and in doing so completely screws up the timeline so any time you look back on it, it makes no sense. There are sections of the plot that prove that the future can be changed and others that suggest otherwise. There are a few clever nods to the originals that clean up some of the messy logic, but they typically come across as forced or rushed. The writing is just about awful. There are some clever ideas at times, but every one of them is either rushed, leads nowhere, or is so convoluted or obtuse that it just brings the film down. Even the interference with the first film comes across as rushed and irrelevant. You never even find out who sent the two new terminators back or why they where sent back! The action sequences are well shot, but generic. They typically just involve people doing things that were done once or twice in previous films several times, removing the 'Wow! They just did that!' vibe. Plus there was an over-reliance on C.G.I. While there is C.G.I. in the previous films, there are a lot more practical effects than you might realize. This can be an entertaining flick if you turn your brain off and just watch it, but I can't recommend it because it is supposed to live up to its predecessors! The first two films are science fiction classics, but this one will be forgotten in just a few months. If you can't add anything good to the franchise, don't make a sequel.

Inside Out is the story of a little girl named Riley and the little voices inside her head that control her emotions. After Riley's family moves to a new home, the emotions in her head (Joy, Anger, Disgust, Fear and Sadness) begin to experience some technical difficulties and question the purpose of Sadness. While trying to keep Riley in check, Joy and Sadness get separated from the group and have to try and get back to headquarters before Riley has an emotional breakdown. While I have found the last few of Pixar's films have strayed from their audience (either focusing too much on the children or the adults), this one is a return to form. While there are more then enough jokes meant for children and there are just as many meant for adults. I laughed quite often. The art style is perfect for the concept and the casting was perfect. There is a lot to like, but my favorite aspect of this film is the moral lesson that this film teaches. Not only is the lesson incredibly useful to not only children and adults, but it is truly helpful and a lesson that not a lot of people focus on. There are not many flaws with the film. Most of my complaints are nitpicking at best. The biggest one I have is with the structure of the plot and not the plot itself. It suffers from what I call Armageddon Syndrome (named after the first film that I noticed having this particular issue). A good plot is supposed to slowly increase tension and progress through a series of important moments until it reaches a climax where it them calms down and resolves. Armageddon Syndrome is where there seems to be little to no progress until the final climax. The plot in Inside Out just looped itself for a majority of the film until it felt like finishing. This made the movie get a little boring at times. Joy and Sadness would try some method to get back by going to locations that signify different parts of the human psyche, would fail, and try again until no more jokes and puns could be made. While this is a major, glaring issue with the film, it doesn't detract all that much since the writing is so good. The best way to think of this film is like a road trip across the country. The destinations are fun and memorable, but the drive between them is kind of boring and repetitive. Despite this I highly recommend watching Inside Out.

Jurassic World is the fourth installment of the Jurassic Park franchise and deals with what would happen if the dinosaur theme park eventually opened. I am a huge fan of the first two Jurassic Park movies (the third one was only okay…) and their narratives on the relationship between man and nature so I was excited to see what this movie could add to that. There is a new narrative that I think actually adds quite a bit to the lore of Jurassic Park. The writing was quite good. There are quite a few scenes that focus on the creation of the dinosaurs in the park and humanities illusion of control over them. Unfortunately there are also a lot of small details that ignore major concepts from the first two movies, especially in the theme park ride designs. Not a single one of the rides shown in this film would last a day in the first two films, and some of the designs wouldn't even work in real life (like giving the customers control over the safari vehicles that allow them to move into the animals' territories instead of an automated path or tour guide). There are also many small plot points that were taken straight from the first film. Despite this, once everything begins to fall apart and the focus falls from the attractions, the film really picks up and keeps going till the end. This film is more of a disaster flick than a survival flick, but it manages to feel like a survival movie for most of the core scenes. Most of the characters are well done. They are simple, yet relatable. The only problem I have here is the two brothers. They had a small story arch that was way deeper than it needed to be and in the end went nowhere and did not resolve itself. The special effects were fantastic and while there were times where it was obvious that C.G.I. was involved, there were more times when I couldn't tell if I was watching an animatronic dinosaur or a C.G.I one. There were many great tense moments that really dragged me in and kept me there. If you were a fan of the first couple of films, you will probably enjoy this one. It isn't as good as the first two, but still excellent.