Story
Terminator Genisys is the latest movie in the Terminator series. It opens in the year 2029 when resistance leader John Connor (Jason Clarke) launches an attack on Skynet. During the attack John and his resistance fighters discover a time displacement machine and realise that a terminator has been sent back to the year 1984. Its mission is to kill Sarah Connor (Emilia Clarke), John’s mother. In response, John Connor sends Sergeant Kyle Reese (Jai Courtney) back to 1984 to stop the terminator.
When Kyle arrives in 1984 he finds the past has been altered, with timelines merging together. The Sarah Connor in the other timeline isn’t what Kyle was expecting. Instead of being defenceless, this Sarah is trained, ruthless and resourceful. And this Sarah already has her own guardian, a reprogrammed T-800 (Arnold Schwarzenegger).
Using a time displacement machine built by the guardian, Sarah and Kyle travel to San Francisco in the year 2017 where Skynet, disguised as a new operating system called Genisys, is about to be launched. This will ensure both Skynet’s survival in the futures and also the destruction of humanity. If Sarah and Kyle can destroy Genisys before it goes online, Skynet will never exist. But before they can do this, they must overcome a significant problem – John Connor has been transformed into a prototype terminator and sent back to 2017. His mission is to kill Sarah and Kyle.
Themes
Time travel; fate; genocide; nuclear holocaust
Violence
Terminator Genisys has sequences of intense violence, images of nuclear war, scenes that show battles and multiple deaths, and blood and gore. For example:
Sexual references
Terminator Genisys has occasional low-level sexual references. For example:
- There are repeated references to a man and woman being sexual ‘mates’ and having ‘mated’.
- After a woman and man stand together naked, the woman says, ‘Don’t think me holding on to you naked means anything, because it doesn’t’.
Alcohol, drugs and other substances
Terminator Genisys shows some use of substances. For example:
- A man says that he’d like a cold beer.
- A man has a half-smoked unlit cigar between his teeth.
- A man holds a brown paper bag that looks like it contains a bottle of alcohol.
- Characters drink socially.
Nudity and sexual activity
Terminator Genisys shows some nudity and sexual activity. For example:
- A couple of scenes show naked men, but their genitals are covered up.
- A man and woman take off their clothes, walk onto the platform of a time machine naked and stand facing each other. Next they tumble, naked, onto a busy freeway. They’re shown from behind.
- A man and woman kiss passionately for a brief time.
Product placement
The following products are displayed or used in Terminator Genisys: Nike shoes and Pepsi.
Coarse language
There is some coarse language in Terminator Genisys.
Ideas to discuss with your children
Terminator Genisys is the fifth movie in the Terminator series. It’s a familiar-looking science fiction action movie that targets teenagers and adult fans of the series.
Rated M, it features constant violence and some disturbing scenes and characters, as well as coarse language that might concern some parents. Therefore we don’t recommend this movie for children under 14 years, and we do recommend parental guidance for children aged 14-15 years.
These are the main messages from this movie:
- We make our own fate. We have freedom of choice.
- Old doesn’t mean obsolete.
- Technological development can be dangerous.
You could also talk with your children about the character of Sarah Connor, who is a strong female role model.