the right notes

Rating: 8/10 (5 August 2003)

Though not any kind of masterpiece, T3 brings an effective closure to the trilogy (let us pray that T4 never happens) and was a better movie than I thought it would be.
The scope is on the slightly more human scale of the first movie. Of course there are obscene levels of stunts and special effects, but what drew me in was that the notions of fate and consequence were dealt with in a more - dare I use the word - realistic manner. The sheer terror of the first movie and the operatic melodrama of the second have been brought down to a more plausible scale. One gets more of the feeling that the two human principles are real people. Their flaws are not gigantic tragic flaws, but real qualities of fear, bravery, uncertainty, and shock. This gives more drama and entertainment in their interactions with the two machines.
For it's back to basics philosophy and high entertainment value I give it a solid 8/10.