An Unrefined, Unimpressive & Unnecessary Addition To The Terminator Saga.

Rating: Null/10 (28 June 2015)

An unrefined, unimpressive & unnecessary addition to the saga that was fully told by James Cameron in the first two films, Terminator 3: Rise of Machines arrives as the second sequel to an already finished series that tries to kill the validity of a highly influential franchise & succeeds to a certain extent, and remains one of the most disappointing sequels in cinema history.
Following the events of Terminator 2: Judgment Day, the story of Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines is set in the year 2004 in which Skynet once again sends another Terminator back in time to kill the future high-ranking members of human resistance after it is unable to locate the position of John Connor while a reprogrammed T-850 model arrives from the future as a protector of John & his future wife, Kate.
Directed by Jonathan Mostow, Terminator 3 is an insipid, stupid & inferior sequel that lacks everything which made its predecessors two of the most groundbreaking films in the genre of action & sci-fi. The screenplay is marred by its poor storytelling, dull dialogues, complete lack of depth, terrible characterisation, forgettable villain & soulless action, which gets even worse with the lifeless performance its cast puts up.
Despite the advancement in filmmaking technology over the years, its technical aspects are no match to the first two chapters of the franchise. Camera-work is all over the place, for it is impressive in a few sequences & absolutely dodgy at other moments. Editing makes the film a tedious affair to sit through, visual effects is highly inferior in comparison & the score by Marco Beltrami isn't that captivating either.
Coming to the performances, the cast comprises of Arnold Schwarzenegger, Nick Stahl, Kristanna Loken & Claire Danes and not one of them manage to leave a lasting impression. Schwarzenegger's character is ineffectively handled, Loken's T-X is a major step back after the indestructible T-800 of the first film & the invincible T-1000 of the second while Stahl & Danes are very mediocre in the roles of John Connor & his future wife Kate, respectively.
On an overall scale, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines is one sequel that had no reason to exist other than to dent the legacy of the remarkable universe its first two films created. It only goes on to show just how vital James Cameron's input was to this series & without his vision, it's just another cashgrab sequel trying to milk out the franchise for all its worth. The film sure has a couple of stunning moments but for the most part, the process of sitting through Rise of the Machines feels wholly redundant. Worth skipping.