Color me surprised

Rating: 7/10 (9 July 2003)

With James Cameron's refusal to participate (is he going to work again?), and two of the lead actors bowing out as well, there was every reason to believe that this third entry was nothing more than a weak and derivative attempt to wring money out of a once-bright franchise. Let's face it; Arnold's instincts haven't been netting him gold lately. The dismal pre-release buzz didn't help its reputation either. So imagine my surprise when this actually turned out to be a pretty nifty sci-fi action thriller.
Is it a great film? No; certainly not in a league with the first two films, which are now icons in the history of blockbusters. There are two real problems holding this one back.
First, there's Kristanna Loken. I'll be the first to admit that I could sit in a theater and look at her all day. However, that's not the point of the character, is it? When it comes to sheer intimidation and menacing presence, she is no Schwarzenegger, and she is certainly no Robert Patrick (in my opinion, the definitive Terminator). While I didn't find her unbelievable, neither did I find her frightening. And that's a problem.
The second stumbling block lies with the score. For any discerning fan of the Terminator series, Brad Fiedel's score is the soul of the films. Without his innovative work, it feels as if the voice of the terminators and judgment day is gone. Had he been replaced by someone like Jerry Goldsmith, the hole might have been filled. But Marco Beltrami's score is merely adequate. It hits its marks, and nothing more. The action cues are rudimentary, and the rest is simply dull. And the orchestral reworking of Fiedel's Terminator theme over the end credits is downright unwelcome.
The bright points, however, are many. While the film starts out with a bit of a "been there, done that" vibe, it builds very successfully. Each successive minute is better than the last. The basic premise set up at the beginning simply has to be forgiven and gotten past. After all, if the future machines can send back Terminator after Terminator, why send each one back to a later point than the one before? Why not go back earlier, or send them all back to same point to pool their efforts? The movie isn't interested in answering these logic flaws, but fortunately finds more fertile ground in the characters. This movie's greatest strength lies in the fact that it is not a movie about the Terminator, but about John Connor. The Terminator is merely an element that serves to delineate Connor as a character, and illustrate his struggle with what appears to be his fate.
Which brings me to something I greatly admire here. Cameron's films existed to illustrate the idea that the future is not written. The mantra of "no fate but what we make" is repeated to make the point that the actions of the individual matter; an interesting point in a movie about nuclear war and the annhilation of the human race. Well, this film will have none of that. It bravely reverses the stance of Cameron's stories, creating a starker, more realist view of the Terminator universe, in which common people can have no effect on events that shake the world. It's a dreary philosophy, but it rings truer than Cameron's warm fuzzy approach.
The action here is first-rate, and wisely continues Cameron's tradition of unorthodox chase sequences. Why use fast cars when you can employ a crane truck and beat-up pickup? The Terminator fights bring more of a superheroic element, and the use of CGI stand-ins is first-rate (the Wachowskis should be forced to watch these sequences repeatedly); they are used sparingly, and we are never allowed to see them long enough to give away the artifice.
Another surprise is how quickly and easily Nick Stahl falls into the role of John Connor. Perhaps it helps that the character was a young teen when last we saw him. Stahl builds an adult who could reasonably have developed from Edward Furlong's teenager, and the references to the previous film manage to roll believably from the character.
Warning: this might be considered a spoiler. The ending cements the stark attitude of the film, demonstrating the inevitability of Connor's fate. It also provides the setup for the story that Terminator fans have been wanting to see all along, and that Cameron most likely would never have done. The final lines provide the perfect pinch of hope set amongst the apocalyptic imagery, and actually leave you hoping for one more sequel.