Although 2015’s Terminator: Genisys ended up being an overwrought mess, the Terminator franchise reboot could have succeeded if its original director ended up making the movie. The Terminator franchise has not had an easy time with critics. Since the underwhelming response to 2003’s Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, the Terminator series has suffered the same issue as the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, failing to recapture the success of the franchise's earliest installments.
However, there are a few moments in the history of the Terminator franchise that could have turned things around for creator James Cameron’s android assassin. 2009’s Terminator: Salvation could have been an intriguing post-apocalyptic war movie if the project stuck with its original, darker, stronger script. Television’s The Sarah Connor Chronicles might have fared better with critics had it focused on the under-utilized John, rather than the over-exposed (and inexplicably recast) title character.
However, ousting the original director of Terminator: Genisys was perhaps the worst mistake made by the franchise. After 2009’s Terminator: Salvation failed to impress critics, Fast and Furious franchise mastermind Justin Lin was initially announced as the director of Terminator: Genisys, a project planned to be the first in a new trilogy. Judging by his screen CV, Lin would have brought the right balance of high-octane action and convoluted - but never too self-serious - plotting that the Terminator series needs. Instead, he was replaced by director Alan Taylor, who made an admirable attempt to fix the script, but was unable to salvage Terminator: Genisys.
Taylor’s history in more worthy, darker TV didn’t fit well with The Terminator’s fast-paced, inherently silly story. Although dark and grim, the Terminator series is also an action-driven sci-fi spectacle akin to the Mad Max movies. Thus, hiring a director best known for his work on The West Wing, The Sopranos, Six Feet Under, and Mad Men didn’t add up. Admittedly, Taylor had proven a more-than-competent action helmer with some episodes of Game of Thrones. However, in comparison, Lin was best known for his contributions to a blockbuster series that relied on chase scenes, absurdly ambitious action sequences, and intentionally complicated plot lines to entertain.
Lin’s oeuvre couldn’t have been better suited to the tone of the Terminator universe, whereas Taylor’s work was leaning toward a more self-serious, less playful sort of filmmaking. There were undoubtedly other major issues with the movie, as proven by Taylor admitting Terminator: Genisys’s script needed to be fixed before the movie even began production. However, the brief period where action cinema legend Justin Lin was almost handed the reins of the Terminator franchise could still have been the last chance for the series to salvage itself. Unfortunately, the Terminator franchise worked against its own interests and dropped Lin before Terminator: Genisys could be saved, resulting in another underwhelming outing from the series.