Genius? sadly, no. Bad film? hell no!

Rating: Null/10 (19 August 2003)

O.k., O.k. lets dispense with the obvious from the start- Its not as good as Terminator 2. It never will be. There. I said it. Its out in the open. Everyone take a breath..
Don't get me wrong, I wish it was as good as T2. I wished Cameron would have come back even as an editor and put some of his magic into it. But he didn't and that movie never got made.
The films starts with John Connor (Played well by Nick Stahl- he does look a bit like an injured deer for most of the film but he handles the role well and, lets face it, hes 10 times less annoying than Edward Furlong). John is under the impression that judgement day was stopped but his dreams are still haunting him. Then the T-X shows up obviously wanting to kill 'old Jonny boy' and then Arnie turns up and the whole circus starts again. This time they are joined by Kate Brewster (Claire Danes, doing a good job of not stepping on the main characters' toes but still giving a good performance), the daughter of
I may p*** off several people saying this but its very good movie. Everyone seems to rate it next to T2- if its not as good as T2, then its not good. Well actually no. If you like action movies and arent too hung up on the T trilogy then you'll like this.
There is a lot wrong with this movie- the jokes border from amusing to, well, embarrassing; The T-X (Kristanna Loken) is nowhere as near as scary (or fun) as the T-1000, and as a result her 'hunt' for John Connor is nowhere near as tense-what made the T-1000 so great was the soulless and brutal way he killed people (John Connor's step-dad. Sword through the head. You guys know what I'm talking about), whereas T-X just seems to shoot people and even then camera cuts away (possibly done to keep the age rating down). When the two eventually meet at the climax, theres not the same tension and you just kind of want her to die and get it over with. Jonathan Mostow had an everest-style mountain to climb when he took this on and making and enjoyable movie was nothing short of a miracle, therefore I cant really criticise him to badly, apart from to say, sadly, hes just no Cameron, and that's ultimately what kills the movie in terms of `T3 vs. T2'. The terminator was Cameron's baby, after all.
O.k., now for the good stuff, of which there is a lot. The characters are likeable without being cheesy- Danes knows her place as Stahl's Love interest/sidekick, and Loken's performance is raised by the cool special effects. CGI is used a lot, but to aid the story instead of tell it, and that's The terminator's biggest weapon. As cool as the matrix films were, its always in the back of your head that it was all shot in front of some bluescreen, whereas T3 grabs you because it looks real. It really is a guy hanging on a crane, it really is Arnold throwing a guy through a wall.
The story is undeniably cool if a little bleak- and heres a second shocking point for all the fanboys-
(WARNING- SPOILER COMING..)
I don't think Cameron wouldve had the balls to have had the apocalypse ending- look at Aliens, look at Terminator 1&2, ok key people died, but Cameron could never handle a plot twist or a depressing ending, and that's where Mostow really shines.

(SPOILER OVER)
Other good points the `arnold on a crane' action scene is as good as anything T1 and T2 offered up, and Mr. Schwarzennegger is easily the best thing about this film- ok his humours crap, and his `emotional' scene with Stahl is uncomfortable, but he is simply `the man'. You cant help but cheer when another car explodes, or when another Arnold one-liner comes out; and that's what makes T3 great- its not genius in terms of quality, its not the best in the series, but it gives you what you want- Arnie blowing s*** up, saving people and saying `I'll be back'. He may over the hill, but I certainly hope he keeps his promise.