A surprisingly good sequel with a good story and great ending

Rating: Null/10 (11 July 2003)

I'll admit, I was sure T3 was going to blow because Cameron wasn't directing it, and that the plot initially sounded like T2's, and was basically going to be a rehash. I was afraid this movie was going to destroy the Terminator series. Thankfully, it did not. Terminator 3 combines great acting, a story that explains itself well, and excellent action scenes.
The acting is very good. Nick Stahl plays a rather reluctant and fearful John Connor who refuses to believe that he is still being hunted by a Terminator even though cyberdyne was destroyed. Arnold Schwarzenneger, the star of the show, is also very good, retaining his deadpan, robotic behavior and tone of voice. It seems the resistance turned on his learning computer before they sent him back in time, because he is able to, well, learn in this movie (this makes more sense if you saw the uncut T2). This makes for some comic relief, that, while making the movie seem a little lighthearted at first, does not disrupt its overall dark nature. Claire Danes is also pretty good. She isn't your typical squeamish female character. While she is more fearful than John Connor, she ultimately becomes a more determined character after realizing her role, much like Sarah Connor in T1. Overall the acting is well done, and it certainly does help convey the whole despairty of the situation, and the characters' determination to accomplish their goals.
The story was pulled off well. T2 saw John Connor realize his role, and become a less worthless person into a someone who can actually make decisions. As you will see in T3, John's first real test comes in. I can't say much more without spoiling the whole thing. While the story isn't as powerful and insightful as T2's, it is much darker and is filled with dispair. The ending was very moving, with the way the narration was done, and the tone of the music.
The action scenes, whose quality is essential to any Terminator movie, were extremely well done. The car chase was very well done, because it was fast, and each crash and slam was done with the right camera angle and sound effect that you can feel the impact yourself. The camera changes are done quite quickly, but it maintains a wide angle on things, and a close angle on others so that the chase is effectively conveyed to be chaotic and messy, but at the same time you can see what is going on. The fight scenes were also good. Like the car chase, each punch and slam has a huge impact in sound and visuals. I mean, when you see one of the terminators get punched or thrown across a room, you can really feel the impact in you! They were also well cheographed. While the matrix films have a balletic and lightning fast quality to their fight scenes, the Terminator films' fights have a more brutal and hard hitting quality. Overall the action scenes were very well done. There was none of that shaky camera nonsense which I get so sick of.
There is of course, a noticable flaw to the film. While T2 explained how the T-1000 was able to track the characters no matter where they went, T3 does not. The TX shows up almost everywhere the protagonists go without explaining how it found out(Except for the cemetary). I hope that a DVD release will in some way explain this.
T3 is a worthy sequel. It doesn't have the epic quality that Cameron produced, it is still well done. To the regular viewer it is a great popcorn flick that isn't your standard hollywood action flick fair. To the terminator fan, it is a good medium to forward the story of Terminator and to show Ah-nuld kicking arse again.