Enjoyable, but not special

Rating: Null/10 (2 October 2011)

This third entry in the Terminator series finishes off Arnold Schwarzenegger's involvement, and also brings the Skynet/Judgement Day story full circle. It turns out that the destruction of the Terminator chip at the end of Terminator 2 did not put Skynet off trying to terminate John Connor: nor did it stop Judgement Day, it simply delayed it. Back comes another Terminator (this model emulates an attractive young woman, Kristanna Loken), and back comes another Schwarzenegger Terminator to act as protector again. John Conner (played here by Nick Stahl) is living a hobo-type existence off the radar. Sarah is dead from cancer, and vet Kate Brewster (Claire Danes) gets caught up in the running and trying to escape (it turns out that her involvement is very much not the accident it appears to be.
This film is much more of a romp than 1 and 2, with some elements definitely played for laughs (the reappearance of Earl Boen's psychiatrist Dr Silberman, for instance). The action is excellent, with some terrific set pieces, and all the principals please although I could have done with vet Kate being a little bit less shrieky and hysterical, not that I blame her.
This film is undoubtedly good, solid, action fun. But it doesn't have the "Wow" factor which its predecessors had.