Ingenious ending, but overall disappointing

Rating: 7/10 (11 February 2004)

WARNING: ENDING SPOILERS!!!
If ever there was a project doomed from the very start, it had to be T3. The making of a terminator film without either James Cameron or Linda Hamilton was a recipe for disaster, and even mighty Arnold isn't what he once was. On top of that, the new director is Jonathan Mostow, a man whose only credits thus far have both been mediocre action flicks. And we end up with...
A mediocre action flick. Well, that's better than I'd expected.
Actually, this whole movie plays like a big piece of self-parody. It is undisputed fact the heyday of Schwarzenegger-style action is over, yet they still keep trying here. Nick Stahl, who has inexplicably been cast in the role of John Connor despite being the least heroic, least imposing, and least edgy actor working today, is a waste of space, and the moment at the beginning that shows him made up to look like his future self is the purest agony. Please Mostow! Cameron picked Edward Furlong and Michael Richards, BOTH of whom were perfect! Is this really the best you can do?
When compared to Robert Patrick's cold menace as the T-1000, Kristanna Loken is a waste of space as the T-X. She generates any menace only in the single shot used ubiquitously in the trailers, so it's one long letdown in the theatre. The new terminator's abilities are incredibly badly explained, and they also look stupid. And Claire Danes. I have nothing against Claire Danes. I like Clair Danes. She was great as Juliet, I loved her in The Hours, and she did a great voice for San in Princess Mononoke. But she is not Sarah Connor, nor will she ever be any substitute Sarah Connor awkwardly shoehorned as John's future wife to cover the fact that Linda Hamilton was smart enough to skip this project.
The action, as stated earlier, is mediocre at best. Cameron's gift for pushing the envelope is sorely missed. A fetish for big trucks, so subtly worked into the first two, sticks out Arnold's ridiculous new "nuclear cell" here. Mostow tries, and fails, to spice things up with some pointless gore and exposition, but neither works.
Now, finally, the good news. When we get to the titular event, which comprises the last act, things improve considerably. With a host of early-model HKs to play with, for the first time, we actually get some action scenes that not only get the adrenaline pumping, but do so an almost Cameron scale. We also see some actual Terminator-style production design for the first time in the film.
And then, there's the ending. Total nuclear annihilation. That's a courageous enough act of narrative to make me forgive a lot, and plus, its handling is sublime. Though that's largely because it's done in narration and we don't have to see Nick Stahl.