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鈥淭erminator Genisys,鈥� the newest film in the storied sci-fi franchise, is here, and it鈥檚 using the series鈥� time travel concept to move forward into a new future.

You most likely know the term 鈥渞eboot鈥� by now 鈥� movies that aren鈥檛 sequels are reimaginings of a successful property, usually bringing on new actors and rethinking the original story in some way. The 鈥淎mazing Spider-Man鈥� films brought on new actor Andrew Garfield and brought Spidey back to high school, also focusing on a new villain. This spring鈥檚 鈥淢ad Max: Fury Road鈥� stars Tom Hardy, not original star Mel Gibson, and imagines a new story in which Mad Max faces off with a new villain. The 鈥淢an of Steel鈥� Superman movie brought on a new actor, Henry Cavill, as the superhero and brought back a famous villain from the franchise (and reinvented Superman only seven years after the last movie that centered on him).

So 鈥淭erminator鈥� is the newest franchise to do this, but it鈥檚 also embracing a new method of the reboot: time-travel.

In the new 鈥淭erminator鈥� film, characters fans know 鈥� Arnold Schwarzenegger鈥檚 Terminator, John Connor, who leads the resistance against the evil Skynet, his mother Sarah, and his father Kyle Reese 鈥� are reimagined. In the original version of the story, Kyle was sent back by John to protect his mother from Skynet; in this version, Kyle figures out that they鈥檙e in an alternate reality and Sarah already knew he was coming. Therefore, technically, nothing that happens after that is in the 鈥淭erminator鈥� universe we know, giving the filmmakers the freedom to create what plot they like.聽

Another popular science-fiction franchise already tried this trick. The 2009 movie 鈥淪tar Trek鈥� centered on younger versions of such famous characters as Captain James T. Kirk and Spock. Any fans who were wondering how all this fit into their known fictional universe 鈥� wouldn鈥檛 Kirk and Spock have referred to these adventures before? Wouldn鈥檛 it have come up that Spock and Uhura were romantically involved? 鈥� soon had their questions answered. The original Spock (Leonard Nimoy) traveled through time, so the events presented in this 2009 film were in a different reality than the Spock and Kirk fans knew.

Will other movies embrace this reboot method? It鈥檚 an easy way to have the freedom to create your own story within a known property. However, studios will have to learn a creative lesson from this new 鈥淭erminator鈥� movie, which is receiving negative reviews from critics. Associated Press writer Jake Coyle wrote of the new 鈥淭erminator鈥� story, 鈥淗and reboot-crazy Hollywood a plot device like a time machine and the most advisable course of action is to run for cover.鈥� Los Angeles Times critic Mark Olsen found the movie to be 鈥渁 mess鈥� 鈥榬eimagining,鈥� taking some things and not others... in this case apparently really means not entirely thinking things through鈥� one big character twist鈥� feels less like a surprise and more like the filmmakers just throwing up their hands and admitting they don't know how to get their way out of all this either.鈥�