A pleasant surprise

Rating: 7/10 (14 July 2003)

Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines was a film that had the potential to be a complete disaster. The second sequel to a well-respected action film, lacking the presence of it's superstar original director (James Cameron), and the most recent film from an aging and recently hit-free action star (Arnold Schwarzenegger). This is not to mention the 10+ year gap between this film and it's previous entry. However, when the lights go down, Terminator 3 surprises. It is, while hardly a masterpiece, an entertaining and engaging piece of action cinema, and perhaps the best action film of the year to date.
Most people are familiar with the basic outline of the plot, which this sequel once again follows: John Connor (Nick Stahl, replacing Edward Furlong), the future leader of the human resistance against the machines that conquer the world, is "living off the grid", with no phone number, no address, no attachments. However, even though he believes that the future is safe after the destruction of the nascent supercomputer Skynet in Terminator 2, he still feels he should live in the shadows. He is right. Skynet has once again decided to take a crack at eliminating his future adversary, and has sent back a new killing machine, the T-X (Kristanna Loken), to stop the future from turning out poorly for those composed of chips and software. And, once again, the human resistance has decided to blow the dust off an obsolete model of human-killing metal, the T-101, who comes equipped with the rock-jawed visage of one Austrian body-builder. He must protect not only Connor, but his future right-hand woman, Kate Brewster (Claire Danes), who is a little, um, reluctant, to believe she will lead the human race in a post-apocalyptic future to victory against sentient machines. And she doesn't even get to take a pill to determine her fate.
Where the film succeeds is in it's realization that it is, first and foremost, an action film. It isn't interested in being much more than that, but it also is smart enough to not over-reach. It is fast-paced and well-constructed, and it handles itself effectively, full of action, but not seemingly over-done. The film gets off to great start early on, with a spectacular multi-vehicle chase that rivals the Matrix Reloaded for sheer speed and audacity. Featuring police cruisers, ambulances and a giant mobile crane, it is a stand-out sequence that few action films this year can really top.
Jonathan Mostow, the director, has some big shoes to fill, replacing the "King of the World", but he takes charge of the film well, allowing it all to flow effectively. One major element of the film's success is the performance of Kristanna Loken as the T-X. Like Robert Patrick before her, she is effectively distant, giving her T-X a cold demeanor belied by her rather comely exterior. She gives the character a fluid sense of motion that is half animal, half machine. And, while some may have believed that having a female antagonist would be destined to fall into the bimbo or super-bitch category, the screenwriters have crafted some scenes that display the value of a female killing machine in a male dominated world (a scene where police officer pulls her over and she uses her liquid metal exterior to craft larger breasts is one example). She is every bit Schwarzenegger's match.
And speaking of the aforementioned superstar, Schwarzenegger is able to shake off his recent failures and is back in top form with Terminator 3. He fits the role perfectly again, and this time the screenwriters have decided to have some fun with him, giving him some neat one-liners that are, unlike seemingly similar material in the abysmal Batman & Robin, genuinely funny. The character is not a self-parody, but a little looser than before.
One aspect that put Terminator 2 over the top in terms of memorability was it's then ground-breaking use of computer animation to craft it's villain, and it would be reasonable to assume Terminator 3 would try to top it. However, Mostow and crew have realized that they can't really compete with what has come recently, and don't even try. This works beautifully though. Instead of being distracted by constant bombardment of eye-candy, the film rides on it's stunt sequences and action set-pieces, and this is the right approach I think. There are visual effects on display here, and they are expertly well-done, and pretty seamlessly integrated into the film.

Terminator 3 is not a film that will redefine cinema as we have come to know it, and has it's occasional gaps in logic and credibility, but nothing so glaring that it is distracting. It simply does the job it was designed to do, and does it well. What more can an audience ask.