An new action movie with old school sensibilities

Rating: 10/10 (8 July 2003)

Modern filmmakers often try to create cinematic events which work on multiple levels. However, in order for a movie to be good, it must first succeed on a superficial level. This is where Matrix Reloaded failed. Reloaded, at its most profound, tried to engage the viewers in philosophical debate. But on the surface, Reloaded was nothing more than MTV style and sensibilities. Ultimately, Reloaded can be summed up in one word: Techno. Perhaps, that's slightly unfair, but it's less unfair than writing The Crow off as a goth movie. But enough about OTHER movies.
Terminator 3 is a movie that does work on that basic level. It's absolutely entertaining to watch. The action scenes are more thrilling than anything that Hollywood has offered up so far in 2003. The plot is decent too. Even without James Cameron, the T3 managed to make a decent movie. Cameron has described T3 as "great", so the movie is clearly not an affront to the first two movies. If you liked Arnold in T2, you'll like him in T3. The reprogrammed, slightly outdated T-101 is as good as ever. Nick Stahl gives a good performances as the paranoid disillusioned 20-something junkie John Connor. Claire Danes also does well as Kate Brewster, a veterinarian thrown into a situation that's out of her control. Kristanna Loken does as well as she can with the T-X role. T-X isn't anywhere near as ruthless as Robert Patrick's T-1000, but she's far more effective at keeping her targets in her sites.
Some people have said there's too much humor in T3. I disagree. Every action movie has its fair share of levity. The epic T2 had John Connor teaching the Terminator to say thinsg like "eat me, d***wad" as well explaining to him that he couldn't just kill people.
Another complaint is that the plot is too thin. I disagree wholeheartedly with this. Director Johnathan Mostow and the writers don't beat you over the head with the motivation of the characters, they leave some of that open to you. Not every movie is gonna hold your hand and walk you step by step through a detailed explanation of things. Some things you just need to accept, or interpret for yourself. After all, this IS science fiction/action. However, there is one mind boggling scene where the T-X inexplicably escapes from a magnetic field. This is the only major flaw with the movie.
Perhaps the one main drawback to T3 is that if you haven't seen the prequels, especially T2, then you may not understand some of the finer points of the movie. But if you haven't seen T2, you have no business watching any sci-fi/action movies anyway.
T3 has a great ending, but they inevitably leave it open for another sequel. I really hope there isn't a T4. No series has ever passed the 3 movie and remained great or even good.
T3 will never be as good as T2, but it's a valiant effort. I've tried not to talk too much about the plot; that's not the purpose of a review. If you want to know why the events in T2 didn't prevent Judgment Day, you'll have to go see T3 for yourself.I'm not here to ruin the movie. If you're a fan of Arnold, Terminator, or action movies, go see T3. It's a whole lot of fun and action from start to finish. And it fits seamlessly into the series progression.
Overall rating: 3.5 out of 4 stars