Terminator Genisys – Rotten Member Berries

Terminator Genisys is a hodgepodge of ideas from more beloved Terminator films. It gives us the gruff and tough Sarah Connor, as well as the sleek and dangerous T-1000; and it even features an Arnold versus Arnold face-off in 1984 amid the familiar backdrop of the original T-800's arrival. There's only one issue: None of it particularly works.

Terminator Genisys feels more like half-baked fan fiction than it does a coherent narrative. Thus, despite how much we all love those elements and moments from the prior movies, they come across as shameless pandering here. Pair that with a convoluted script that hops through time more often than Dr. Sam Beckett, and it's a recipe for reboot disaster.

Now, it's not all bad. There are some good ideas in Terminator Genisys. Establishing connective technology as sort of a Trojan horse for Skynet is not without its merits. But, there is just so much happening that is uninteresting. With two leads (Emilia Clarke as Sarah Connor and Jai Courtney as Kyle Reese) who lack even a semblance of chemistry, those flaws become even more apparent.

Hence why this movie bombed with critics and domestic audiences. It sits at 27% on Rotten Tomatoes with 274 reviews; and it grossed just $89.7 million in North America. Its global cume helped it save face ($440.6 million), but it was still not enough to keep it out of the red.

Listen, you could watch this, but these versions of the characters won't be back. So come with us if you want to drink some future-infused Spaten Optimator, while hunting down those goddamn time traveling robots! I, the Thunderous Wizard (@WriterTLK), Capt. Cash, and Chumpzilla are tumbling through time in our birthday suits!

This Week’s Segments:

• Introduction/Plot Breakdown – Woof ... where to begin? Never has a movie failed so hard to grasp what made the fans love the characters of its series. (00:00)
• Lingering Questions – The Double Turn Podcast heads to 1997 to prevent the Montreal Screwjob, and then we discuss what could've fixed this travesty. (53:23)
• The "Judgement Day" Trivia Challenge – We hear from our brothers in beer at Hop Nation USA, and then I challenge the field to trivia about the movie. (1:19:11)
• Recommendations – We offer our picks for the week and next up: We kick off "Hops and Jingle Bell Flops" with a movie that will make you root for the burglars, Home Sweet Home Alone! (1:32:23)

And, as always, hit us up on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram to check out all the interesting factoids—the aborted sequels and more—from this week’s episode!

You can find this episode of Hops and Box Office Flops on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Podbean, Spotify, Acast, TuneIn, iHeartRadio, Vurbl, and Amazon Music!

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