She was great, actually — and so was ‘Terminator: Genisys.’
Resistance fighter, mother of the revolution, and hot mess extraordinaire: when you think about Sarah Connor from The Terminator franchise, chances are your mental image is that of Terminator 2: Judgment Day’s buff, flinty-eyed warrior, not the cowed waitress with frizzy hair only the 1980s could synthesize. Actress Linda Hamilton’s impact on the action genre can’t be overstated. Alongside figures like Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) and Pam Grier, Sarah Connor’s whiplash-inducing transformation from an unassuming damsel in distress into a volatile, merciless, and lethal prophet of the apocalypse set the blueprint for the Katniss Everdeens and the Furiosas of the modern movie landscape. Hamilton reprised her epochal role in 2019 for Terminator: Dark Fate; four years earlier, a different actress took Sarah for an all-too brief big-screen spin. 2015’s Terminator: Genisys gambles with tradition through a Sarah Connor that’s recognizable but born of different circumstances. And who better to typify a ferocious woman than Emilia Clarke, the Mother of Dragons herself? Clarke was perfect, gosh dang it. Her viscerally empathetic take on a quintessential feminist touchstone deserved better than the paltry response Terminator: Genisys received.
The Life and Death of ‘Terminator: Genisys’
Few will disagree with the claim that The Terminator series peaked in 1991 with James Cameron’s Terminator 2: Judgment Day. Attempts to capitalize off the genre-altering meteor Cameron left in his wake (Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines and Terminator: Salvation) met with meager fanfare. The premise was seemingly spent. When it came time for studio executives to try to revitalize an old IP again, Paramount Pictures went full reboot. Keep the draw of leading man Arnold Schwarzenegger, scrap the rest. That didn’t work, either; despite turning a pretty penny worldwide (over $440 million), Genisys’ box office fell short of expectations and the critical reception was dismal.
It’s a smoking hot take to say that Terminator: Genisys is great, actually, but I stand my ground. The film’s a refreshingly creative rework that retained the series’ legacy themes while daring to table-flip expectations. What is a Terminator movie that isn’t reinventing established continuity in shocking, seemingly antithetical ways? Imagine how stunning it was in 1991 for Judgment Day to take its predecessor’s villain and reprogram him into the hero!
In that same vein, Genisys gifts viewers with Daenerys Targaryen as the revamped Sarah Connor, future DC supervillain Jai Courtney as Kyle Reese, Matt Smith as an inexplicably humanoid Skynet, and J.K. Simmons muttering “goddamn robots.” Genisys is also presciently lackluster in the same way many franchise installments are: generic action scenes feel like first draft placeholders and one-liners aim for badass only to fizzle out like a dud firecracker. Still, Laeta Kalogridis and Patrick Lussier‘s script went for broke. No other Terminator installment had the gall to fundamentally break canon and keep chugging along with enough steam to warrant its existence.
Even if the arc of critical reevaluation isn’t kind to Genisys, let’s not throw the baby out with the bathwater. The movie’s strongest selling point by far is Emilia Clarke stepping into Linda Hamilton’s massive shoes. Any Game of Thrones viewer knows this actress’ presence will rattle the earth when properly wielded. There’s a kinetic synergy to her Sarah that sits somewhere between the Hamilton of 1984’s The Terminator and Judgment Day while also bequeathing the world with something original. Few could have pulled that off with more intuitive deftness than Clarke, who was a fan of the original movies.
Why Is Emilia Clarke’s Sarah Connor So Great?
Terminator: Genisys opens with that reboot-specific sense of deja vu. From Kyle Reese’s soporific voiceover describing Skynet’s uprising to time traveling naked dudes, we’ve been here before. The fun begins once Sarah barrels into the picture, quite literally — crashing through a building behind the steering wheel of a semi. The John Connor (Jason Clarke, no relation) of 2029 describes his mother as “scared and weak” — surprise! It’s Sarah who rescues Reese from imminent death a la T-1000, not the other way around! If Genisys is a remake as lawless as Alice in Wonderland, then Sarah is Alice with a shotgun. She’s instantly in control, ordering Reese around like a drill sergeant without ceremony. She’s as fluent with weapons as a waitress reciting the restaurant menu. This is no victim.
As a performer, Clarke never misses a beat. Every skewering glance and clipped line delivery attest to her Sarah as a haunted, hopeless, lonely, and obstinate young woman. She inhabits Linda Hamilton’s demeanor without relying upon bland mimicry, especially her “shoot first, ask questions later” impatience and battle-hardened expedience. Just like her Terminator 2 counterpart, this Sarah’s soft edges were whetted away. She leans more machine than woman despite her vengeful purpose being one of human resilience. Who else but the Khaleesi could be this sublimely acrimonious?
Twisting expectations about Sarah Connor on their head is a socially self-aware move that doubles as a metaphor for lost innocence. Clarke’s Sarah never had a normal life; she was orphaned by a Terminator and forced into her destined fight at nine years old. She lacks any human connection, having only the reprogrammed T-800 she nicknamed “Pops” (Schwarzenegger) for company. In some ways, these changes make Clarke’s Sarah even more hardened than Hamilton’s despite her youth. In Sarah’s words, “I was raised by a machine to kill cyborgs and survive the nuclear apocalypse. I think I’m doing fine, thanks.”
Except she isn’t. Sarah’s humanity bleeds through in pieces. Clarke is gruff in her sarcasm and pointed in her annoyance. She schools a thick-skulled and condescending Reese by saying, “The girl you came back for? She’s gone.” Part of what made Hamilton electrifying was her emotional vulnerability underneath the steely exterior; she was traumatized, unpredictable, and physically robust. The Sarah of Terminator: Genisys walks an even finer line. She doesn’t have the luxury of processing her grief. She’s reluctant to entertain hope, instead fueled by anger. Who wouldn’t carry a chip on their shoulder in her situation? Why does she, out of everyone, always have to be the strong one? She’s a walking wound with terribly thin shields, and the blade of defense cuts both ways. Clarke channels Sarah’s complicated interiority with her signature grace.
Emilia Clarke Emphasizes Sarah Connor’s Humanity in ‘Terminator: Genisys’
Fiery nature aside, Clarke’s best scenes are the quieter moments. She listens to Reese spin stories about their future son and shows surprise, charm, and longing. Reese’s arrival marks the beginning of Sarah facing down the barrel of a predetermined fate. Coming face-to-face with an adult John (he’s from the future, just go with it) makes things even more stifling. She’s wary rather than warm; it’s almost a flight or fight reaction. And once the truth about John comes out, having to kill her corrupted son distresses her in theory more than in practice. For a character largely defined by her motherhood, Genisys‘ Sarah knows John Connor as an amorphous symbol, not a person. It’s impossible for her to feel nurturing toward a stranger, and Genisys doesn’t vilify her for it.
To witness Sarah Connor’s unconditional love, we turn to her relationship with Pops. The dysfunctional family dynamics remain Terminator 2‘s greatest strength, and switching out John (Edward Furlong) for Sarah in this protector-protected relationship is inspired. Sarah makes no bones about her adoration for her surrogate father figure. She hugs him with joyful abandon, sobs over his apparent demise, and adorns the wall with colored pencil drawings from her childhood that show them holding hands. Clarke also infuses their fond bickering with a teenager’s dry, sour bite. Sarah is a daddy’s girl through and through. And how can you not adore a girl and her awkward robot dad? Clarke and Schwarzenegger (who seems cheerfully game for anything) weave an underdeveloped yet undeniable bond.
Terminator 2 never ignored Sarah in favor of her son. Still, Genisys lets the character grapple with her ever-evolving future. Skynet might still be alive and kicking in a basement somewhere, but since Genisys never spawned any sequels, this one-and-done iteration of Sarah Connor resists the claws of destiny and chooses her own path. In an age when remakes either play it safe or misrepresent the source material, Terminator: Genisys tried, and that counts for something. It’s a movie replete with bold decisions, with the boldest — casting Daenerys Targaryen — being the most sensible. When it comes to The Terminator franchise, put some respect on Emilia Clarke’s name.
Terminator: Genisys is available to stream on Prime Video in the U.S.
