Disappointing, Mr Mostow.

Rating: 5/10 (7 August 2003)

Let's cut to the chase, Terminator 3 is massively inferior to the two previous films. And with a such a solid setup in place, Jonathan Mostow really must hold his hands up. The problem here is the script, script, script. I sat disbelieving as gag after gag rolled. All very well, but this is a Terminator film, and regardless of the director's vision you have to respect what the previous films have set out, and by making the third film a comedy action flick, you're going to annoy a lot of fans 10 minutes in. The third film has SO much scope - computers taking over the world killing billions of people in the process - yet after 109 minutes, you feel like not much has happened at all. And that is unforgivable. Arnie's Terminator is much less likeable, and has little chemistry with John Connor (the script doesn't allow much interaction). It is a real pity Edward Furlong couldn't do this film, because he really had that strong personality coupled with vulnerability that made the Connor character his own. Nick Stahl, as good an actor as he is, is just too wimpy and unassuming. The TX is a nice touch, but Robert Patrick's Terminator felt much more deadly. But I guess that's the problem here: it just doesn't feel thought
out at all - we need a decent plot to get back into feeling for Arnie and John Connor. We need more than action sequences to fully feel what Judgement Day will look like. Especially T2 did this - Cameron's film was brilliantly structured, and so simply scary. You could feel the clock ticking towards armageddon. So much happened in that film, by the end of it you felt like you were losing a friend when Arnie died, in this film you really feel little attachment to any of the characters.
Overall, a disappointment. This could, and should, have been a great finale, yet little in the way of intelligent plotting or characterisation leaves you with a cold feeling by the end. I wanted to like this film, but Jonathan Mostow is getting into a habit of shooting slick films with potholed scripts. Frustrating!