Two words sum up this movie for me and they are popcorn flick

Rating: 8/10 (1 July 2003)

Moviegoing auidences have been waiting twelve years for Arnold Schwarzenegger to come back to the role that made him famous and the question remains; was it worth the wait? For me the answer is yes and no. First I'll focus on the yes part of the movie. Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines delivers it's share of action and special effects which in the summer time is why we go to the movies. Nick Stahl whose is a very talented actor takes the role of John Connor from Edward Furlong and does it well. And the T-X played by the sexy Kristanna Loken is meancing and a smooth bad ass bad guy. Fianlnly Jonathan Mostow handles the action sequences very well in the film. The chase sequence in the film is one of the best I've seen from the three movies he's directed . Now let's focus on the no part of Terminator 3 that will upset many moviegoers. Terminator 3 has two main probelms that makes the film pale in comparison to it's precassadors. The first being the lack of storytelling that trio of screenwriters John Brancato,Michael Ferris and Tedi Sarafian can't seem to capture that Cameron magic which affects the direction of the talented Mostow. The second problem is the familar score by composer Brad Fiedel which is gone from this film. When it comes to the females in the film Claire Danes and Kristanna Loken both kinda gives a paper thin performances. Danes over does the damsel in distress role and Loken is nothing more than eye candy (but damn does she look good). The film won't please all tastes but if you want mindless entertainment then check this one out. Hopefully the inevitable Terminator 4 with Nick Stahl in the lead will be an improvement over this one. It's not that Terminator 3 is a bad film it just wasn't worth a 12 year wait. Mt final verdict on the film is ** 1/2 stars.