Not even close to the original concept

Rating: 4/10 (3 July 2003)

Oh, how I wish that I had stayed home. I knew that this movie was going to be the worst of the three, but I didn't realize that it was going to be quite this bad. I don't know if the people in charge just ran out of ideas or the fact that James Cameron wasn't really involved had that much of an impact on the final product. Regardless, here are my pros and cons of T3: Rise of the machines.
Pros (the smallest list): Great action sequence and great acting all around from the cast. Though I wasn't particularly happy with the casting choices in the matter of looks/public appeal/ect...all the actors did a fine job. Especially the in the role of the Terminatrix. She nailed the cold and dispassionate look down pat. Too bad they gave her lines like: a seductive "I like your gun" and inflatable breasts. The chase/fight scenes were great. One scene in particular (crane scnene) was dragged out too long, but overall it was great fun to watch. Special effects were awesome.
Cons (oh where do I start?): Arnold, though I adore him, definitely showed his age. Also, his role had too many speaking parts. Speaking parts are usually good, but for this character and his monotone voice, less is more. Also, they gave him way too many human characteristics than needed. The opening scene was real cheesy too. A badly cosmetically aged Stahl standing on a heap of rubble and pumping his arm like some kind of post-war cheerleader. Gag! They also tried to recapture the whole romance/fate thing like in the first but it was too obvious and there was no chemistry between the two. Add in a few subplots which were never resolved or expanded upon and the story pretty much limped along at a choppy pace.

One thing I loved about T1 and T2 was that the story itself was told fluidly and at a breakneck pace. The action was consistent. T3, on the otherhand, was filled with those tired old dramatic pauses which has the audience either shaking his head or yelling at the screen. John Connor wasting precious moments staring at liquid metal like he'd never seen it before. Talking scenes and poignant looks that have the characters actually STOPPING in the middle of a chase sequence. In "real life" they would have been wasted! Overall, it was just waaay too typical of every other bubble-gum scifi/horror flick in the past.