Too many flaws

Rating: 5/10 (22 June 2008)

I Love The Terminator films! they are truly unique & revolutionary, why? They were a perfect mix of Sci-Fi and action that had a dark & chilling tone to it. It was almost a warning to humanity about our over reliance on technology. Now we have this new chapter in the saga, Terminator 3. After leaving the theater I left feeling man that was awesome, but afterward I really started to think about the movie and how it compares to the first two films. For all it's great action & adventure it just isn't on the same level as The first two. Many fans will be upset cause it doesn't offer what we loved about the other films.
1.) It took too long to make Terminator 3: Arnold is the only actor who can be The Terminator, but now he's getting too old and can't be expected to continue being the terrifying cyborg much longer, not to mention he has become involved in politics so his dedication to making good Terminator films is gone. Also James Cameron wasn't back to direct, Big Problem! James Cameron was a man with vision, he knew exactly how to make The Terminator movies. I'm not sure why he didn't come back to do T3 but he hasn't done much directing in a while. Had T3 been made earlier not only do I think Cameron would have had the energy to direct, but he and Arnold could have come back with time do do a fourth.
2.) Bad tone: This film almost seems like a parody of the Terminator Films. It's far more comical and less serious in tone. Like I said before The Terminator films are darker, more grim, and have a clear morale message.
3.) Poor Casting: I hated Nick Stahl as John Conner! he came across as whinny, immature, cocky, and self-absorbed. I mean come on he's suppose to be the leader of the Human Resistance that saves humanity! grow up already! He seemed nothing like Edward Furlongs's John Conner in T2. Claire Danes seemed miscast, this isn't her kind of work and she too came off as whinny & immature. Kristanna Loken is Hot as hell, but she's no Terminator. Having a female as an evil Terminator just seems too awkward, she just wasn't intimidating like the original Terminator or the T-1000 (T2). It was wonderful to See Arnold as the Terminator, he was great as usual.
4.) Bad Dialogue: Too comical, and stupid. Couldn't take seriously.
5.) A crap Story Line: Too many plot holes. I mean the time line didn't add up, when compared to events of Terminator and Terminator 2. Ultimately the writers wrote a script and came up with a story that underachieved. The Terminator films tapped into societies deepest fears about Nuclear War & artificial Intelligence, the film makers were more concentrated in action, entertainment, and awesome special effects. It also failed to deliver what we really wanted out of T3. I wanted to see the chilling & terrifying recreation of Skynet in the aftermath of T2. Not to mention the other movies were kinda scary with the take over over the machines, T3 failed to capture the true horror and the terrifying possibility of a machine take over, I Robot was better doing that!
So what was so great about T3? well the action sequences were fantastic, better then that of the first Terminator but not as good as Terminator 2. Personally I'm glad that Judgement day happened, humanity just had to push it didn't they? After the event's of T2 when Skynet was destroyed it should have ended there, but mankind rebuilt skynet so there for humanity deserved to be pushed to extinction for it's ignorance & stupidity in redeveloping the computer that would destroy them. T3 did deal with our anxiety of future events, cause let's face it we are fearful of what the future holds for us. No matter how hard we try, we cannot avoid our destiny and that has been the one constant about the Terminator movies. And then of Course there's Arnold, without him this movie would have really sucked. T3 was missing many of the people & elements that made Terminator & Terminator 2 so legendary, but Arnold has always been the key piece of all three films. Terminator 3: Rise of the machines was a great action adventure film, it was fun & entertaining, but unfortunately it's just not on the same level as the other two.
Now with Terminator 4 coming out sometime in 2009, Arnold as I thought will not be reprising his role. I now fear the Terminator series will take a further nose dive.