By god they did it!

Rating: 8/10 (27 June 2003)

I entered last nights screening of Terminator 3 with utter trepidation. No Linda Hamilton, No James Cameron and no skynet. I wasn't sure how they could ever continue the story when Judgement day was avoided at the end of T2.
Thank god though, they did it. By the skin of their teeth they managed to convince. It didn't look good at one point. The movie starts fairly drably. Some tired clichÃ©'s are rolled out. People's shock at seeing a naked person walking at night, Arnie kicking some ass, leather, sunglasses (with a neat twist). What hits you straight away is that this movie is a product of 'new' hollywood. The camera is shy of any on screen blood letting and manages to cut away just before the rot sets in. While obviously a concession to the censors, it does also have the knock on effect of watering down the brutality of the terminators. You just don't get that sense of ruthlessness that the movie's predecessors had.
Unfortunately, the next emotion you get is one of total dissapointment at the new Terminatrix. Her entrance is cringeworthy. I'm not sure how a wooden Terminator is supposed to be scary, but this new villain is so devoid of personality It has the most detrimental effect to the power of the machines. At this point I thought all was lost but from here on out things only get better.
We meet John Conner, and it is a very satisfying introduction. John has been permanently scarred by the events in 1991. And has lived a life of solitude and anonymity to avoid being tracked down by any remnants of skynet or the machines. Fat lot of good it did him as fate puts him right back into the path of destruction. And then the chase begins again. And what a chase it is. John hooks up with a girl from his past by means of a plot contrivance that isn't anywhere near as hard to swallow as it probably should be, and they both do a runner together (reluctantly at first) under the protection of the haggered and obsolete T-100. This iteration of John conner (played by Nick Stahl) is very convincing. He looks like a man who has been alone for most of his life. A man who misses his Mother yet resents her at the same time. And when he explains to Claire Danes's character Kate Brewster what is going on, there is a glint in his eye that suggest that although he fears that it is all beginning again, he is quietly satisfied that he maybe isn't crazy after all, and more than that, that he isn't alone anymore.
One of the beautiful things about this movie is that Arnie's age, iconic status as 80's action hero and subsequent fall from grace all add up to make him the perfect Terminator for this movie. Hopelessly outdated by the new bells and whistles terminators, past his prime and unloved, the movie sometimes seems like a metaphor for Arnie himself. Seeing him throwing a CGI monster through walls and numerous panes of glass is almost like a the old guard saying "yes, you have all the fancy gadgets and computer power, but at least we didn't mind getting our hands dirty".
>From the moment the chase begins, it doesn't seem to end. It is action all the way. And boy what action. CGI is used sparingly and cleverly. The show off camera trickery is kept to a minimum and it all has a very old school feel. In fact, it all feels very true to the Terminator universe. Pulsing music rather than full blown orchestrations, mass civil destruction, utter disregard for subtlety, the action scenes in this movie easily stand up to those of any of the other movies. And they seem far less contrived to boot. My only criticism would be that they were all that little bit too familiar. Chases on bikes, trucks, helicopters etc. These are all conventions of the Terminator universe that T3 happily borrows, but the movie seems reluctant to invent any of it's own.
The one convention it does try to instill, or maybe develop from T2 is morality. There are scenes where the Terminator is forced to make Moral choices and show traces of humanity. While some in the cinema found this all a bit ridiculous, I actually found it fairly touching and a nice addition to the story. Arnie's internal struggle almost seeming more than that of circuitry and processing power.
About the story. It's the strongest of the 3. By all rights it should be laughed right out of town, but they actually get away with it. The existence of skynet and the rise of the machines is brilliantly explained using some very clever twists and reflections of current society. In fact, I would like to have seen more of this side of the plot. It is only there to facilitate the action set pieces but it had enough weight to carry the movie into more philosophical territory, rather than just another (albeit very good) chase movie.
There are faults with the movie. I kept waiting for an explanation to why exactly the newest Terminator is a woman. Something about it being easy for her to infiltrate the very male dominated society of the future, or mans one weakness being their libido. Anything would have sufficed and the material could have used some philosophising on mans weakness to the opposite sex being it's biggest downfall in the war against the sexless machines. Alas, no such reasoning is given. It is just accepted and john Conner refers to her as 'The Terminatrix' as if she is an old family member. Also, as the arch villain, she just simply is not very menacing. Partly due to woeful acting and a script that is wholly recycled from Robert Patricks turn in T2, but also partly due to the fact that she is actually a bit.rubbish. Why, after the liquid metal killing machine of 1991 do the machines go back to making an exo-skeleton robot? It simply makes no sense. She seems like a model way down the evolutionary chain from the T1000. Even her flamethrower hand is far from intimidating and more reminiscent of the teachers in the B-movie schlockfest 'Class of 1999'.. Also, humour. Arnie has too many one liners. The Terminators are a girly girl and a stand up comedian. How scared do are we supposed to be? We want ruthles, not sexy and cute.
Also, if I have to see another secret underground base in a movie I'm gonna shoot someone. Hoolywood take note. Audiences aren't impressed with styrofoam rocks and banks of flashing lights. Setting the final act on a dodgy set with bad Doctor Who style robots will impress noone. Just once I want to see a movie like this end in a big tropical forest or a desert. Anywehere that doesn't have a self destruct sequence and really annoying alarms.
Other faults include plot goofs that make certain meetings and situations unbelievable. For example, Claire Danes's character has to go to her place of work at an ungodly hour in the morning, whereby the Terminatrix shows up to execute her. But why would the Terminatrix go there in the middle of the night when her target is not supposed to be there?
But all these are small niggles swept under the carpet by the majesty of the denoument. I won't ruin it, but the ending is ballsy, jaw dropping and unexpected. Not only that but it does 100% justice to the integrity of the series. It marks the end of a chapter and it does it in style. They could never make another Terminator movie and the trilogy would go down in history with the Star Wars' and the Die Hard's (as apposed to the Alien's and Jaws'), or they could make another and take it in a whole new direction. It is a truly great ending. Not just satisfying and fitting, but great. The kind of ending people will talk about in 10 years time.
I'm very happy to report that the story is what makes this movie work. Which makes a surprising change for a summer blockbuster. I had very little faith in this movie, but it sits proudly alongside the first two to make one of the best action trilogy's in hollywoods pantheon. What a relief.