A worthy end to the trilogy

Rating: 8/10 (11 September 2003)

Okay, this isn't as good as the original or T2 but it's still a damned good movie.
It's got everything you want from a summer action flick and bags more. You want action? How about a 20 minute chase involving a giant crane, remote controlled cop cars and a vet wagon? Humour? The new TX has a mischievious nature while Arnie's entrance is bordering on self parodying hilarity. How about effects? Top notch, Stan Winston and ILM creating brilliant futuristic battle scenes, superb robotic effects and plenty of pyrotechnics to boot.

Acting wise I felt Ed Furlong was missed. Nick Stahl was perfectly amiable as the older John Connor, but I really missed T2's Connor, full of young inocence and cool, his flippant character replaced by a scared, frail older version, who wore a constant frown on his weathered face. Arnie was back and was on great form, he just slotted back into his role as the Terminator as if he'd been doing it all his life. As for the newcomers, Kristianna Loken started off interestingly but quickly deteriated, she wasn't anywhere near as good as Robert Patrick in T2, failing to display the menace that anihilation was just around the corner. And Claire Danes as Kate, while an important character plot wise, did little more than scream a lot and look scared.
Still, the best thing about this film wasn't the acting, action or attempts at humour, but the bold, brilliant ending. Without giving anything away I'll just say: IT WILL BLOW YOU AWAY!
There are rumours of more Terminator films in the pipeline, but I for one hope that is untrue. They should leave it be as this perfectly complements the other two films and serves as a terrific final part of the trilogy.
Overall a 8/10 for this one.