Tolerable, but far short of the originals

Rating: Null/10 (17 September 2004)

*** CONTAINS MILD SPOILERS ***
T3 is weighed down by a poor script. John Connor is a whiny drifter, reduced to stealing meds from a pet hospital, beaten up by a woman, and unable to escape from a simple dog cage. What happened to the middle-schooler who broke into Cyberdyne, taught a killing machine the value of human life, and actually looked the part of a future resistance leader?
The villainess of the piece, T-something-or-other, is a clone of the liquid metal bad guy from T2. Only dumber, and with some implausible new skills, like the ability to change cup sizes.
There are plot holes and inconsistencies all over the place. For example, they explain that the Ah-Nold character in this movie doesn't know what the Terminator from T2 knew because it's a different unit. But it still goes out of its way not to kill anyone, as in T2.
And if you can believe it, John Connor's biography and the history of the future become even more confusing. Worse than that, there's a revelation that will make you wonder why any of the characters even bother.
Having thoroughly established that T3 doesn't live up to its predecessors, let me say it isn't all bad. The major action scenes are comparable to those from T1 or T2. The Governor of California once again plays the machine in his mechanical, but oddly likable way. I can't find fault with any of the actor's performances; they do the best they can.
Another reviewer said that T3 should not be considered "canon." If you care about such things, you won't like T3. But if you can accept the film's limitations, and overlook the bad attempts at humor, it's a decent action movie. I gave it 6 out of 10.