A Total Failure

Rating: 4/10 (17 January 2007)

Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines is, quite frankly, a failure.
Let us start with the inferior special effects: Given that the film cost 187 million dollars to make, one would expect superior quality special effects, or, at least, high quality. However, it was not delivered.
A terminator exists for one purpose: to kill. It is relentless, brutal, and every feature of its design is meant to facilitate more efficient killing. As a special effects artist, one should create imagery that captures this idea... So.. my question is... how exactly will those glowing lights help a terminator kill??? both terminators have an EXCESSIVE amount of glowing, Christmas-tree like features. the T-101 has red and green lights inside its chest, and the T-X is practically a walking blue LED. It reminds one of geeky PC with UV lights rather than a killing machine.
we will also note that the T-X comes with tiny a rotary saw!! i mean, come on!! the giant stabbing sword of t-1000 provided a much better visual representation of brutality. Big, sharp, pointy objects looks menacing, blurry round things doesn't, especially when it's about 2 inches in diameter and comes with the sound FX of a dentist's drill.
the physics is horrible as well, in the hand-to-hand combat scene, the T-X manage to throw T-101 for 10 meters without moving back an inch. And no, it doesn't make T-X look strong, it makes the entire scene look artificial, like a bad kung-fu movie. There is also a scene where the T-101 pulls open the door of a safe: not only is that physically impossible (if it were a real safe one most most likely pull the entire safe out of the wall) but the scene also fails to convey the message that the terminator is strong. To covey strength visually, one need to establish visually that 1) something is difficult to do and 2) the character does this difficult thing, so he/she is strong. Throughout the film the terminators perform feats of strength way too effortlessly, which takes away the realism. (in comparison, Robert Patrick's hand to hand fight scene in T2 was much much better.
There are two more scenes that bugs me visually. One is the scene where T-X sends electric signals to police cars. the computer generated graphics looks like something from the 1980's. the other scene is where cathrine bruster shot T-101 and T-101 spits out the bullet. If i had designed that scene i would have had the bullet tear off a large chunk of T-101's cheek, making a wound that looks like a menacing grin while revealing its metal mandible, or better yet, tear off a piece of T-101's eye.. or, at the very least, show some blood... but nooo.. the T-101, simply catches the bullet with its mouth.. like.. some parlor trick... sigh..
Aside from the special effects problem, there are script problem as well.. ill place humor is a huge problem in this movie.
T-101 saying "talk to the hand" is just not funny.
T-101 wearing star shaped sun-glasses.. not funny either...
T-101 saying "excuse me" to T-X: not funny.
cathrine bruster punching T-101 in back the same way that most girls punch guys when they are flirting with them: what is this: a romantic comedy? T-X saying "i like your car" "i like your gun"... just plain weird.
T-X breast enlargement: serves no purpose. (she was gonna kill the cop anyway, not like there is a NEED for deception and doing things for no apparent purpose destroy the whole image of the Sparthan, cold blooded killing machine.) T-X always walking like she was on a catwalk.. neither funny, nor sexy, nor cool, nor menacing.
T-X having a strange curious look before using her remote control ability: just plain weird to see cold blooded killing machine with the look of curiosity! In short.. the film sucks...