James Cameron Endorses ‘Terminator Genisys,’ Calls it the Third Film in the Series

Most fans of the first two Terminator films probably agree when it comes to the upcoming Terminator Genisys – approach with caution. This thing looks ready to burn anyone who gets their hopes up. And yet the film has pulled a marketing hail mary that feels specifically designed to get fans back on the movie’s side. Someone showed the movie to James Cameron and then got him to appear on camera to say nice things about it.

Now we don’t know what to think! The world has turned upside down! Cast and dogs, living together! Mass hysteria!

In the video above, the director of The Terminator and Terminator 2: Judgment Day spends two minutes explaining why you should get excited for Terminator Genisys. And yes, he does so by throwing Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines and Terminator: Salvation under the bus:

I feel like the franchise has been reinvigorated, like this is a renaissance ... In the new film, which in my mind, I think of as the third film, we see Arnold take the character even farther.

There will never be enough rubble to toss over Salvation’s fetid corpse, but we can’t help but feel a little bad for Rise of the Machines. It’s not a legitimate genre masterpiece like its predecessors, but it’s an entertaining and goofy romp that has its fair share of charms. Cameron shrugging it out of the Terminator canon stings just a little (but not too much).

So this is where we can start jumping to conclusions. Since there was no way Cameron was forced to sit down and participate in this video (it’s not like he needs the money), we have to assume that he believes Genisys is a stronger film than the past two entries. That’s not an especially high bar to clear, but it’s something and right now, this movie needs all of the somethings it can get. A measured seal of approval from a genuine cinematic visionary who had nothing to do with the film in any way won’t allow us to forget the fact that every trailer makes this movie look like a hot mess, but it’s a start.

Terminator Genisys opens on July 1.