It was nice knowing you...

Rating: Null/10 (12 August 2003)

Consider this proposition: a movie that's the second sequel in a franchise now totally dated, a movie that comes a full 12 years after its predecessor - a period in which the main star has aged significantly and lost the level of popularity he had in his salad days, a movie that went through endless hassles in writing and pre-production and was likely to generate interest only in the most rabid fans.how would you expect such a movie to turn out? Entertaining? Witty? (Dare we say) Intelligent? Take heart then, for Terminator 3 is all of these. Its also the perfect adieu to this now venerable series. Full credit for this goes to the team of writers (John D. Brancato, Michael Ferris III and Tedi Sarafian), for the first time the action sequences are not the meat of the film but supplement to a deviously clever script. There are tons of tongue-in-cheek references for Terminator fans to catch (Arnold's trademark entry is given a delicious twist), and a sense of satire is quite evident, but the spoofing never goes overboard and is done in a spirit of affection and respect for the series. There is also a good deal of ironic humor, even a Woody Allen-esque moment with the psychiatrist character from the earlier movies. The action sequences are done with the usual pyrotechnics but seem to have a deliberate Tom-and-Jerry flavor (most evident in the crane chase scene). The film neatly draws in the sparse threads of narrative that fueled its predecessors and steadily powers its way to the climax. And what a climax! Without spoiling it for people who haven't seen the film, I would consider it ironic in the most wonderful sense that a franchise whose worth has mostly been measured in terms of the mindless thrills it offered concludes itself in this surprisingly sophisticated way. I was really quite satisfied with this film, the only nit I have to pick is with the character of the villain, the T-X (Kristanna Loken) which was played out in a very colorless manner.
The Terminator leaves us on a high note. Let's hope he doesn't come back.