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2* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: Is Skynet AlwaysChaoticEvil and always wanting to exterminate humanity as it deems them beneath it, or is Skynet/[[spoiler:Genisys]], at least initially, only reacting to the overly aggressive behavior humans display towards it, and is genuinely shocked upon finding out that they're only doing this because in the future, it will end humanity via nuclear war? Either or both interpretations are valid due to the lack of characterization and scenes of the villain.
3* AluminumChristmasTrees: The helicopter chase leading into the climax. It is obvious that most of the helicopter stunts were done via CGI. However, the stunts themselves are actually plausible. An experienced helicopter pilot can perform such moves in an urban environment that a jet fighter pilot could only dream of. Most combat helicopters can achieve horizontal speeds of several hundred kph with only brief acceleration and return to a hover just as quickly, rise at over 10 meters per second from a hover, perform dives and tight three point turns, and navigate tight urban airspace with ease.
4* AssPull: See the [[AssPull/{{Terminator}} franchise page]].
5* AudienceAlienatingPremise: As WebVideo/FilmBrain put it, "Remember those Terminator movies, we're rebooting them, even the ones you liked!"
6* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLwT6LGAOmM "Sacrifice"]], which plays during the most [[TearJerker powerful]] moment in the film, is equally powerful as the scene accompanying it.
7* CommonKnowledge: Early in the film's release, it was believed that Creator/RobertPatrick had a cameo as a visitor in the hospital, though he debunked this on his Twitter.
8* CompleteMonster: Skynet/Genisys. See [[Monster/{{Terminator}} here]] for details.
9* ContestedSequel: The film acts as a part sequel/part reboot, with an AlternateTimeline created through time travel. Some people were unhappy with the storyline from the previous films being discarded, while some felt it gave the film more room to do its own thing. Critics and fans complained that [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks too much was changed]] (throws the mythology out the window and has old characters portrayed in a way different manner) and/or that [[ItsTheSameNowItSucks too much was the same]] (has many a ContinuityNod and enough familiar elements to feel like a retread). Others just like that ''Genisys'' attempted something different and fulfilled the RuleOfFun.
10* CriticalDissonance: Critics slammed it, while user/audience reviews were slightly more positive.
11* DesignatedLoveInterest: As in the original timeline, Kyle Reese was basically set up by destiny to fall in LoveBeforeFirstSight with Sarah. Likewise, because of Pops, Sarah has had it drilled into her head that Reese is the man she's supposed to "mate" with to father John Connor... after which Reese ''dies''. Because of this, their new relationship is rather awkward. Kyle's attraction toward Sarah is still understandable since not only does Sarah still look like her original picture (AdrenalineMakeover notwithstanding), but she's now every bit the badass that John Connor told him about. Where this trope is played its straightest, though, is Sarah's side of things. Other than BecauseDestinySaysSo, there's very few indications that she's interested in Kyle beyond adrenaline and physical attractiveness. There's just one line at the end where Pops calls Kyle a "[[NiceGuy good man]]" right before Sarah [[SexualKarma kisses him]].
12* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff: The film was a flop domestically, grossing only $89 million. It still got over $440 million worldwide, (becoming the second highest-grossing entry of the series) [[http://variety.com/2015/film/box-office/terminator-genisys-china-box-office-1201581541/ thanks to Chinese audiences.]] (it was also the only American movie that surpassed $400 m without $100 m in the US until ''Film/WarCraft2016'' came along)
13* HilariousInHindsight:
14** The holographic representation of the sentient AI that controls Skynet [[spoiler:(Genisys) initially taking the form of [[CreepyChild a little child]]]] with a mission to exterminate humanity who tries to split the difference by offering nanotech integration as a choice to the main characters might remind some gamers of a [[VideoGame/MassEffect3 certain infamous character from the ending of a sci-fi trilogy video games with similar premises to the Terminator series.]] The characters constantly shutting him up by shooting his emitters before blowing him up only adds to the delicious, delicious metaphor.
15** Many people have compared the plot of the film to the ''Franchise/BackToTheFuture'' movies, well, [[WebAnimation/HowItShouldHaveEnded it's been]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBBw9E2Q_aY done]], and that video has quite a few plot elements included in this one, including the T-800 and T-1000 facing off earlier and the attempted earlier assassination of Sarah Connor, though not in infancy as the video proposes.
16** Genisys being a cross-platform OS designed to link computers/phones/etc. is hilarious in light of Microsoft's Windows 10, which serves a similar purpose and was released for the PC in the same month.
17** Just the PlotTwist of [[spoiler:John Connor being turned into a Terminator, given that we nearly got this ending for ''Film/TerminatorSalvation''.]]
18** [[Series/DoctorWho Matt Smith appearing right when time travel is happening, and he even interferes in it like a Time Lord would.]]
19** Matt Smith will play [[Series/HouseOfTheDragon another Targaryen]], this time an ancestor of Daenerys, played by Emilia Clarke.
20** Creator/EmiliaClarke playing a role [[Series/TerminatorTheSarahConnorChronicles previously portrayed by]] Creator/LenaHeadey. [[Series/GameOfThrones Think about it for a second...]]
21** This wouldn't be [[Film/TheForceAwakens the last major franchise revival]] in 2015 where [[spoiler: a former male lead's son turns evil and becomes the BigBad.]]
22** [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=puf56k3e19ijya2q8507guux&page=1 This thread]] from this site's own forums in 2010 about whether or not Terminators would be affected by [=MRIs=].
23** [[VideoGame/GirlsFrontline This wouldn't be the only sci-fi work with a humanoid robot designated "T-5000".]]
24* ItWasHisSled: Thanks to the marketing campaign, the film's biggest twist involving John Connor [[spoiler:being turned into the T-3000]] was common knowledge to those going into the movie. The ad agency for the film tried to HandWave this by saying that there were other twists in store for viewers, but the consensus was that the reveal in question was the most important one of the movie.
25* JustHereForGodzilla: The very big draws to the film were either A) Arnold's full return to the franchise, or B) Matt Smith being in it being akin to [[Series/DoctorWho the Doctor]] entering the Terminator franchise.
26* MoralEventHorizon: Skynet has already been established as monstrous enough throughout the entire franchise, but in trying to rig the war in its favor via time travel, its original MEH from the first film, ''pales'' in comparison to [[spoiler:sending a T-5000 to transform John Connor into the T-3000 just before Kyle goes to 1984]]. This is a whole new level of cheating for [[TheAIIsACheatingBastard an AI that has already made a name for itself as a cheating bastard]].
27* {{Narm}}:
28** The film's very title. While "Genisys" is an actual computing term, it's kind of amazing that alone didn't kill the film at the script stage. Why? Because it lead to plenty of Sega jokes all around the web.
29** Some of the [[http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Theme-Terminator-Genisys-Pictures-Apparently-O-Face-67968.html pre-release images]] invited this due to the over-the-top expressions, with Matt Smith in particular looking like he's having a stroke while firing his gun. In other images, [[https://www.cinemablend.com/new/Terminator-Genisys-Plot-Sounds-Like-Mess-Get-Specifics-67942.html the T-800 looks like it's mugging for the camera]].
30** The new Terminators's denominations taking very freely the numbers. First the T-1000, then the T-3000, then the T-5000... (although admittedly is not so bad next to the ''T2 3-D: Battle Across Time'' attraction featuring a T-1000000.)
31** Emilia Clarke's acting frequently comes across as unintentional LeaningOnTheFourthWall due to her forced, patronizing explanation of the plot to Kyle Reese. Reese's DullSurprise reactions to those explanations are not much better.
32** The fact that the Resistance army is composed now of healthy, clean and well-fed men without shortage of cool weapons and fancy armored uniforms should be enough narm for how out of place it is in the ''Terminator'' universe, but it turns even worse when said body armor looks like out of a ''Franchise/StargateVerse'' cosplay party or an airsoft competition.
33** John's and Kyle's appreciations about how when the war is over they will be able to use their hands to something other than ''killing''. Although it is easy to get what they mean, the word choice is particularly jarring for people whose enemies are inanimate machines.
34** Kyle Reese stepping into the time portal butt-naked with the entire resistance getting a clear view of his John Connor-factory. It's even better in the previous scene, as a female Resistance member is the one to inform Kyle he'll need to be naked upon entering the time portal and she looks like she's trying not to [[EatingTheEyeCandy act too giddy at the thought.]]
35** When Reese is being sent back in time, [[spoiler:the T-5000]] moves his attention from the time machine to John Connor. Unfortunately, due to the way the scene is lit and framed, it looks like [[spoiler:Matt Smith]] is looking directly into the camera, as if to announce "Hey kids! I'm in this movie too!"
36** The scene where a young doctor patches up Kyle and Sarah after their incident on the freeway. Not only is he making a personal phone call while treating patients (a strict policy violation in any credible healthcare facility) and rather nonchalant about making small talk with two people who are about to enter police custody as suspected terrorist bombers (who he's treating without supervision or protection), but he brags that "everything I do will be uploaded and online, 24/7." It's the kind of line one wouldn't even hear from today's generation of social media obsessed teenagers... nevermind the fact it's not even that impressive at the time of the film's release, let alone enough to be the huge game-changer the movie makes it out to be.
37** The revelation that the giant teddy bear Pops carries into the hospital only contains a small shotgun, instead of the GatlingGood or heavy machinegun everybody in the audience was thinking the freaking thing was being used to hide.
38** Doubles with SpecialEffectsFailure, but it's hard to take John Connor's "death" sequence in the parking garage seriously when a shotgun blast at point-blank range doesn't leave a single mark. That not even Kyle noticed it when he pounced on him to check his state is even more jarring.
39** Jason Clarke's melodramatic gesturing while Connor confronts Reese and Sarah at the parking garage can easily draw laughs. For a moment, he just looks like he is about to throw a [[KamehameHadoken Kamehameha.]]
40** These two clashing bits of dialogue:
41---> '''John Connor:''' I'm not man. Not machine. ''I'm more.''
42---> '''John Connor:''' The machines will rule this world!
43** Child Kyle claiming that adult Kyle looks physically like his father. It is meant to underline that he recognizes Reese as something resembling a grown up version of himself, but the fact that the actor playing Kyle's dad doesn't look like Jai Courtney at all (nor like the child actor, actually) sinks the moment.
44** Pretty much every instance of the film recycling one of the series' classic lines can be this to some. Specifically, Sarah's "Come with me if you want to live!" and T-800's reiteration of "I'll be back." The film even acknowledges the latter line would be meaningless to Sarah as she gives a confused "Huh?"
45** "One billion preorders." Okay, sure. Let's assume that 1/6 of Earth's population would want to use the app. But one billion people ''preordering'' it? The number is so ludicrously high that it's nearly impossible not to laugh.
46* NarrowedItDownToTheGuyIRecognize: Yeah, like they're really going to cast [[Creator/MattSmith the Eleventh Doctor]] in a throwaway background role.
47* OneSceneWonder:
48** Matt Smith plays three characters, and each only appears for a single scene, but he steals all of them handily.
49** Creator/LeeByunghun has only about a total of 20 minutes screentime and his casting is criticized for not looking like Robert Patrick, but even some of this film's loudest critics acknowledge he captures the eerie nature of the T-1000 remarkably well.
50* QuestionableCasting:
51** While Jason Clarke as John Connor ended up having some good scenes, the casting decision made people look back at Creator/ChristianBale and Nick Stahl and see them in a better light, noting that Clarke's physique and acting style were too different from the character's usual portrayal.
52** Emilia Clarke as Sarah Connor. Even though her incarnation of Sarah is supposed to be a hardened badass, Clarke's looks and performance only make her come off like a pouting teenager. She was 27 at the time of filming, but her diminutive size, appearance, and voice make her seem ''much'' younger. Normally not a bad thing, but given this incarnation's backstory of a young woman who spent her childhood alone with Pops in seclusion and in training for a future war[[note]]very clearly channeling Creator/EdwardFurlong's John Connor [[/note]], it doesn't fit all that well. Her physique also drew unfavourable comparisons to that of Linda Hamilton, who went through an incredibly strenuous training regimen to look the part in T2. Clarke, meanwhile, lacked a similarly muscular physique during the filming of Genisys. [[labelnote:however]] As justification, the movie was filmed in between filmings of seasons of the wildly popular Series/GameOfThrones series, where Emilia Clarke starred as Daenerys Targaryen, one of the main characters. So because of time constraints, replicating Hamilton's 13 week, 3-4 hours daily regimen would not only have been unfeasible, but anything that would have radically changed Emilia's body type in between [=GoT's=] seasons would have been discouraged.[[/labelnote]]
53** Jai Courtney as Kyle Reese. His buff physique alone makes him TheUnfavorite among long-time fans, especially given how Kyle is supposed to be emaciated due to being born after Judgement Day, but the way he treats his mission as if it was an annoying sidequest of his beloved future war doesn't help either. It also doesn't help that Courtney is seemingly incapable of pulling off an American accent without losing his charisma.
54** Why not bring back Joe Morton as Miles Dyson? Unlike the other rebooted characters, Dyson [[TheSlowPath ages in real time]], making Morton the perfect age to play Dyson 24 years later.
55* SpecialEffectFailure: The effects for the film as a whole are among the franchise's weakest, and is not reflective of the $150 million spent.
56** While the initial closeups look pretty good, and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19ZAH0ETqyI on a technical level was an ambitious attempt]]. Many of the scenes featuring young Arnold, such as when he charges at Pops, look like they came from a Creator/{{Pixar}} film, and whenever he talks, it comes straight out of the UnintentionalUncannyValley.
57** The T-1000 effects aren't much better than those from 24 years ago (which, on the other hand, also proves how good ''Film/Terminator2JudgmentDay'''s effects were at their time).
58** The bus flipping on the Golden Gate. You can tell they needed a huge rig to to flip it like that, and how it's composited into the scene makes it even more obvious.
59** The helicopter chase scene is filled with spotty CGI, and a common criticism is that the scene is largely pointless in the plot except to go from one trailer-friendly visual effect from another. Also, at the beginning of the chase, the heroes' helicopter begins starting up ''in freefall...sideways''--something that has a one-in-a-million chance of working, but the main characters don't seem worried or terrified in the slightest, only drawing attention to how implausible the stunt is.
60** The Future War scene looks like a high quality video game cinematic than a scene from a live-action movie.
61* TheyChangedItNowItSucks:
62** A fair number of people were upset about the film using TimeTravel to effectively wipe out the events of the original film, and drastically change the characters and their roles. The shared memories effect between the Reeses from different timelines was also considered to be too fantastic or at least very different to the well-defined time travel dynamics that the franchise had established.
63** The fact that the T-800 model stays as Arnie (and some lookalike body doubles) while the T-1000 is changed to an actor who doesn't look like Creator/RobertPatrick at all instead of seeking the same trick is another point of contempt. While it is mildly justified by the T-1000's ability to take any human shape in order to infiltrate and impersonate, here Lee Byung-hun is clearly meant to be its default appearance and not a temporary disguise. After the movie's release, reception towards him warmed up a bit, with people coming to understand the difficulties in having Robert Patrick reprise his role, as well as noticing that Lee Byung-hun does somewhat resemble his predecessor albeit {{racelift}}ed, but the previous perception remains to a point.
64** Similarly, the three punks from the first film are played by new actors whose looks and wardrobe are noticeably different from their predecessors. The replacement for Bill Paxton's punk not only looks nothing like he did, but his outfit leans closer to what audiences have come to expect the Terminators to wear as opposed to what he's supposed to wear after this scene.
65** John Connor's adult portrayal. The change from a rugged but handsome guerrilla fighter to a stout, hammy, [[Franchise/StarTrek James T. Kirk]]-like field general was at the best mixedly received.
66** Kyle Reese, who showed his birth and raising in a post-apocalyptic wasteland by being skinny, starved and visibly PTSD-ridden, is morphed in this film as a buff, well-fed and emotionally stable soldier who if anything seems to love his job.
67** The fact that both Skynet and the Terminators behave much more emotionally is another point which contrasts with their nature established through the saga. For many people, watching Skynet and [[spoiler:the T-5000]] as boastful {{Card Carrying Villain}}s instead of the cold, impersonal killing entities that they were established in the franchise simply doesn't get the point right.
68* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter:
69** Poor T-1000 only gets some minutes of screen time before being eliminated. Even though the climax battle of the film took place next to pits of polyalloy and he could be somehow brought back credibly, that is all we see of him.
70** Alex [[spoiler:also known as the T-5000]] only gets some minutes of the film, and never really does something aside [[spoiler:infecting Connor]] in a flashback. Not even the full extent of his powers and skills is shown.
71** The T-3000, being made out of nanomachines, could have been a great source of some ''Film/TetsuoTheIronMan''-esque BodyHorror. In addition, it could have also represented the fears of a GreyGoo scenario. Imagine a Terminator that could dissolve anything - [[ToServeMan or anyone]] - in its way!
72* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot:
73** Sarah growing up raised by Pops is only briefly mentioned, yet many think that ''A Girl and her Terminator'' would have been much more interesting than this movie.
74** What if [[BadassFamily the entire Connor family]] -- John, Sarah, Kyle, and [[HonoraryUncle Guardian T-800]] -- joined together to fight Skynet, [[spoiler:rather than just the latter three fighting a BrainwashedAndCrazy John serving Skynet]]?
75** The opening has John explain to Kyle that his "foresight" of the future is just what he remembers Sarah telling him that she got from Kyle, but the point where Kyle goes back in time is where his knowledge of future events ends. This serves to set up the twist of [[spoiler:the T-5000 attacking John as Kyle is sent back]], but it also opens the door to the idea that what Kyle told Sarah was the final decisive blow to Skynet actually ''wasn't'', and the war continued after he had been sent back and he had been an UnreliableNarrator all along. This would give the film a chance to explain how the other films happened (perhaps Skynet had other time-displacement devices Kyle wasn't aware of), and allow a story arc that takes place in the future, the past, or even both. But it's only used for that single twist and otherwise means nothing.
76** Or at the very least, have [[spoiler: the T-3000/John]] FightingFromTheInside to show they're not completely gone, making the issue of the heroes having to kill them that much more poignant.
77** Speaking of Skynet, when it awakens, it's effectively an innocent child, only knowing the likely one-sided information John Connor's fed it. Given a central theme of the series is "there is no fate but what we make for ourselves" how interesting would it be for the heroes to try and teach ''Skynet'' humanity, as John once did with the T-800, and prevent the war from ever coming to pass?
78** The T-1000 lasts some minutes before being eliminated, but we are later shown some pools of polyalloy in which machines fitted with lasers are apparently modelling human figures. The viewer could be forgiven for believing this was an incredibly obvious lampshade for the creation of one or more T-1000 Terminators that would attack the main characters when they tried to reach Skynet, but such thing never happens, and the element is used instead to [[spoiler:bring back Pops]] in a rather questionable way (see Ass Pull above).
79** Speaking of, T-800 gaining T-1000-esque shapeshifting powers could've opened a whole new world of possibilities, had it happened sooner. It could've factored into his inflitration of Cyberdyne, or we could've had a ShapeshifterShowdown between him and T-5000. Instead it ends up being a teaser for the non-existant sequel.
80** The film devises the intriguing plots of a T-800 being sent to protect Sarah as a child and said T-800 having later to fight another T-800, but the former happens mostly offscreen and the latter is glossed over in few scenes. Similarly, the question of what was "Pops" up to when Sarah and Kyle jump ahead to 2017 barely gets an answer.
81** Traveling to 2017 and seeing how humanity's relationship with technology has changed since 1984 could've been an interesting topic to cover, but it's sadly relegated to a forgettable scene where Sarah and Kyle gawk at how everyone has a smartphone.
82* SugarWiki/VisualEffectsOfAwesome: The effects on the T-3000 are very impressive, probably even more so than the 1000.

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