Needless addendum to the series.

Rating: 7/10 (12 November 2003)

This is a fairly entertaining sci-fi action film, but it pales in comparison to the original Terminator movies. It's lacking in artistic direction and the cast is weak.
James Cameron is a terrific storyteller and takes care of the minutest of details, but here the events just happen without proper sequencing. Jonathon Mostow is in way over his head.
The acting is also a problem. Arnold is good as the Terminator, but Nick Stahl is very bad in the role of John Connor. There's nothing heroic about him at all. Eddie Furlong was a tough kid and you could buy him growing up to be a leader of the humans in the future, but Stahl doesn't suggest anything other than a future 7-11 clerk.
Also, there's no Linda Hamilton character, no strong female lead - Claire Danes brings nothing to the table. Kristanna Loken is alright as the T-X sent back to kill John Connor, but she isn't required to do much acting what with the computer animators doing most of it for her.
Why did they make this movie? There was nothing left from the second film that needed to be clarified, nothing here clever enough to add to the Terminator myth. It was made only for the sake of money, but with production costs so high, even that didn't work.
As a stand alone film, it's OK entertainment. There's lots of action and the special effects are good. There's even some humor written into the script. But when you look at it in the context of "T2-Judgement Day" it's a major disappointment.
Thankfully, with Arnold as governor now, we don't have to worry about another sequel. Even these producers couldn't be stupid enough to make a Terminator 4 without Arnold.