Action to spare, but lacks heart and Cameron's touch

Rating: 7/10 (6 July 2003)

Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003) D: Jonathan Mostow. Arnold Schwarzeneggar, Nick Stahl, Claire Danes, Kristanna Loken, David Andrews, Earl Boen, Moira Harris, M.C. Gainey, Susan Merson. As it turns out, the 1997 nuclear war prevented in TERMINATOR 2: JUDGMENT DAY had not been prevented at all, just merely postponed. Taking place in the present day, yet another Terminator, the T-X (Loken) is sent back through time to kill the future leader of the human resistance John Connor (Stahl, filling in for the troubled Edward Furlong), as well as several other future military leaders. The long awaited TERMINATOR sequel lacks director James Cameron and stars Linda Hamilton and Furlongand it shows. Despite some great action sequences by director Mostow (who won me over with 1997's BREAKDOWN) and great special effects, the film fails to capture its audience with awe and wonder like the first two. Several twists about the actual war caused by Skynet (talked about in the first two films but never actually shown) are present here and are a neat touch. However, Loken's T-X isn't nearly as menacing as Robert Patrick's T-1000 in T2. Action to spare, but lacks heart and Cameron's touch. Also, the music score by Marco Baltrami just plain sucks (omitting Brad Fiedel's famous TERMINATOR theme until a lousy orchestrated version at the film's end). RATING: 7 out of 10. Rated R for graphic violence, profanity, and brief nudity.