The Entertainer

Rating: Null/10 (20 July 2003)

Jonathan Mostow takes over from James Cameron to release a third instalment of the post-apocalyptic man vs. machine action thriller series The Terminator'. The connection between the original films is very loose and the plot holes come thick and fast, but that doesn't get in the way of a non-stop thrill ride of chills, spills and kills
The script is nothing short of a carbon copy of film two with a little more emphasis on the action set pieces and a coating of flashback and one-line humour. This time around however Judgement Day has come and gone with no apocalypse, leaving poor John Conner (Nick Stahl) to come to grips with a life without what he has been prepared for. It is not long however before we quickly learn the machines are still out there and still very keen on killing John Conner. It seems Judgement Day was merely postponed by the events of the second film and the catch line `no fate but what we make' was really not that important because it is all going to happen anyway!
In this adventure the machines send back a Terminatrix or T-X, a female and very sexy Terminator. Unlike those before her this one seems specifically designed to please the human eye, obviously to lure sex deprived males into a false sense of security. None the less she is outstanding and despite having very little to do Kristanna Loken pulls off the seductive killing machine with a sense of freakish sadism and clinical emotional-less efficiency, ah if only all women. *cough
Needless to say the resistance was able to send back another T-101 or another Arnold Schwarzenegger to protect John Conner. Refreshingly there is a new and interesting twist to this journey in the time-line of the series making the sense of repetition (repeat of film two) go unnoticed at least during the course of the film. Arnold also spends the majority of his time poking fun at his character from the previous films and reprising such lines and `I'll be back' with `I'm back'.
Jumping right to the point this film is an action film, with very little time to take in the events of the first few minutes of the film the audience is rushed into the films most astounding sequence. John and his new found friend Kate Brewster (Claire Danes) find themselves being chased by four remotely controlled vehicles and a massive mobile crane driven by the T-X herself. The sequence lasts of around 15 minutes and is worth the price of admission alone as we are treated to some very daring and exciting stunts of explosions.
From here the pace never lets up as Mostow spreads out the thin serving of plot, which on the surface is very interesting but fails to live up to any deep scrutiny. One imagines James Cameron would of put more emphasis on the plot and fleshed it out a great deal more than Mostow. It seems however the emphasis on this film is action and comedy. Unfortunately for Mostow as the film progesses and the hard decisions must be made about the direction the film will take, plausibility and suspense seem to go out the window in place of pure blood-thirsty action.
Besides all this there is little more to say, the acting ability of Nick Stahl is quite adequate for the role and is Claire Danes who looks convincing as an action star. Arnold returns to what he does best and does it with flying colours, and Kristanna Loken thrusts herself onto the big screen and ultimately steels the show.
Technically the film is not as sharp as it could be and the special effects are often very noticeable. This is probably an indication of the ability of Mostow who looks promising but does not quite have the finishing touches yet. Oh and the music or soundtrack is utterly woeful and completely the opposite of atmospheric.
This finally leaves us with a little over two hours of some very entertaining and fun reels of celluloid. Certainly no thinking required, but well worth seeing it on the big screen if you love the traditional Saturday night action spectacular! (7/10)