As usual, Terminator crawls to victory not without losses. But his software is stronger than his hard drive / kinopoisk.ru

He smiles. He jokes. He says he's old but useful. He promised to come back – and here he is.

In Genisys, director Alan Taylor diligently quotes the first two – classic – episodes, filmed by James Cameron in 1984 and 1991. A naked young Schwarzenegger materializes in a wasteland at night among the garbage, meets some hooligans and says: take off your clothes. The liquid T-1000 in a police uniform (now played not by Robert Patrick, but by the Korean star Lee Byung-hun) again tries to kill Sarah Connor (who this time has the face of Daenerys Targaryen from Game of Thrones, i.e. actress Emilia Clarke). Only she has not yet given birth to the future leader of the resistance of people to machines. In order for her to be born, John Connor (Jason Clarke) sends a messenger from the future to her – not a robot, but a person. This is not a continuation or a prehistory (in time loops, these concepts easily swap places), but variations. That is why there is so much to explain.

Especially when there are two Arnold Schwarzeneggers in the frame and one says to the other: “I’ve been waiting for you.”

If youth had known, it would have dodged.

There is more than one time loop here, and to keep the audience from getting confused, the characters have to constantly tell each other how it happened. Sometimes you want to shoot them: they talk too much.

Of course, there's no problem with "shooting" here either. But try to kill these robots - you can beat them on the head with a stake, blow them up, or melt them in acid. The newest model is even more invulnerable than the liquid T-1000. It's no longer a machine, but it's not a person either, but (according to its own description) "something more."

Back in the body

Terminator Genisys marks the return of Arnold Schwarzenegger after a 12-year absence from the franchise. In the previous film, he was replaced by CGI in one of the scenes, and the main character was played by Sam Worthington.

However, "Genesis" is not interesting for its battle scenes and special effects, which are generally quite standard for a modern big-budget sci-fi action movie. Nor is it the relevance of the topic of global computer networks and dependence on them (in 2017, the threat comes from a program that unites all of the user's devices). More interesting is the new interpretation of the textbook I'll be back.

Eternal return. The fate of every hero of a popular franchise, who, even having died, is obliged to resurrect – in one form or another. The heroes of the new "Terminator" strive not only to prevent the war between people and machines, but also to break this circle of reincarnations (like a Buddhist wants to stop the wheel of samsara). So as not to return again. So that the future becomes unknown. But then a force majeure circumstance comes into play. It is called love.

"Have you had sex yet?" the old but useful T-800 asks every now and then, calmly, as befits a robot. He protected Sarah Connor from her childhood and raised her like a father. But it's time for his daughter to fulfill her duty to humanity and give birth to the hero John, who will lead people to victory over Skynet and its machines. Unlike the robots, Kyle Reese (Jai Courtney) is sent to the past not to fight, but to do this. And now daddy Schwarzenegger must protect both of them. And hurry them up.

“An absurd mission,” as Ptashuk said to Buzykin in “Autumn Marathon,” also a film about eternal return.

That's why Terminator Genisys is not only romantic, but also comical. And fatalistic. No matter how many robots you send into the past, everything will repeat itself, and the circle cannot be broken, because at its center are these two, who can only copulate out of love. But if they have already fallen in love, no Terminator will hold them back.

What can you do in such a situation? Just joke. Which is what Arnold Schwarzenegger's character learns by choosing the longest path for time travel, i.e. simply growing old.

In theaters from July 2

Terminator Genisys hits theaters