Terminates the Terminator

Rating: Null/10 (4 August 2003)

(possible spoilers) The most disappointed I have ever felt leaving a cinema, was upon leaving this film. I was physically angry at the absolute nonsense that I had just watched. Yes it has an incredible opening car chase. Yes the two terminators fighting looks great and yes Arnie is back, but large explosions and pointless chases does not a good terminator film make.
There are a lot of problems with this film and I won't bother to list all of them. But the T-X is too large a problem to ignore. Where as Robert Patricks' T1000 was the embodiment of terror in T2, Kristana Loken is about as scary and fear inducing as my Nan. She is appalling and has one expression, that of a slightly cheesed off beautician. She looks stupid when she runs and totally unconvincing when she fights. Robert Patrick, I know is committed to the X-files, but they could at least have got someone who could act or fight.
The second problem is Jonathon Mostow, a director who gave us the abysmal and history rewriting U571. OK he manages to pack as many explosions into the film as possible, but what he doesn't seem to grasp is that in the first two films the action is centered around a strong central plot. We care about the characters and the action, when it does happen, is the better for it. Mostow is a person who obviously doesn't understand the word suspense, as unlike the first two films there is no build up, the TX finds John Connor, through Katherine Brewster in a quite ridiculous set piece, inside the first 7mins.
The third problem is the script, or lack of, which is just a reworking of T2 with the TX in place of the superior T100. Thanks to this 'script' Arnie is a 'new and improved' joke telling terminator. Every time Arnie open his mouth the line is played for laughs. He parodies himself so much that it totally destroys the sense of foreboding. Its the end of the world for Christ sake its not meant to be portrayed in this happy-clappy contrary way.

Had it been just a normal action film, this film would have been good fun. But as a huge fan of the first two films I can't stress enough how frustrated I am. Terminator and T2 were two of the most influential action films ever made, their legacy is apparent in the films produced in the 80's and 90's. A legacy which has been brought to a crashing end by this piece of unimaginative tripe.