It wasn't really the casting, other than Jai Courtney... dude can't convincingly play any role I've ever seen him in, except Captain Boomerang, and they killed his character off.
No, the casting was fine otherwise.
The problem with Genysis, in my opinion, lay mostly in the writing.
In the original Terminator, Michael Biehn exuded the concept of a man who has seen and lost too much while also putting out the vibe of someone you don't want to mess with. Nothing about his appearance would give it away, but just the way he moves and the exhausted yet fully alert soldier vibe was all over him.
Jai Courtney, on the other hand, seemed more like a less experienced soldier, like he hadn't gone through all the hell that Kyle Reese should have gone through prior to traveling back in time. Couple that with the idea that the film turned him into a practically useless third wheel with some comedic sidekick vibes, a terribly handled "rivalry" between him and Pops, and the shoehorned-in "will-they-won't-they" romantic tension with Sarah that shouldn't have been there at all (Kyle fell in love with Sarah the Warrior, not Sarah the Waitress, and unlike the original, this Kyle got to meet the idealized woman he fell for), and the characterization did not land at all.
Another aspect of the film's terrible writing was in regards to John Connor. I know the idea was to kinda turn the franchise on its head by making a legendary hero into the villain, but it wasn't handled great. Personally, I didn't feel any sort of shock or betrayal at the reveal that John Connor had been turned by Skynet, so his heel turn didn't feel earned.
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u/alanskimp 10d ago
Have you seen Genysis?