Video: ‘Terminator Genisys’ trailer: Arnold is back in action

Don’t be alarmed if you experience a flush of deja vu watching Arnold Schwarzenegger & Co. blow stuff up in the new trailer for “Terminator Genisys,” the fifth film in the blockbuster sci-fi franchise about a time-twisting war between humans and machines.

The two-and-a-half-minute video, viewable above, echoes memorable moments from the franchise’s earlier movies but also skews the story just enough to offer some surprises.

At first, everything seems to follow the now-familiar storyline introduced in James Cameron’s 1984 original, only with some new faces in key roles: John Connor (Jason Clarke), the future leader of mankind’s resistance, sends right-hand man Kyle Reese (Jai Courtney) into the past to protect his unsuspecting mother, Sarah Connor (Emilia Clarke), from a cybernetic assassin trying to alter the course of history.

Once Reese journeys through the looking glass, however, things aren’t quite as he expected. Sarah doesn’t need protection, even though there’s a liquid-metal T-1000 on the loose (played by Byung-Hun Lee, taking over for Robert Patrick). In fact, she’s been waiting for Reese, along with her adoptive Terminator dad (Schwarzenegger).

As the trailer underscores, “Genisys” represents an attempt by director Alan Taylor (“Thor: The Dark World”), new studio Paramount and production company Skydance to recapture the glory of the $1.4-billion “Terminator” franchise while also resetting it for a new generation of moviegoers.

Not that either task will be simple. Many die-hard “Terminator” fans have expressed skepticism about retooling the series mythology, and it remains to be seen whether younger moviegoers will be lured by a 67-year-old action hero they might know better as a politician.

Set for release July 1, “Genisys” is intended to kick off a new trilogy, with the second and third installments slated for 2017 and 2018.

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