A good film by itself, but lets down the Terminator series

Rating: Null/10 (19 August 2003)

When I first heard that this film was going into production a few years ago I was excited at the prospect of another instalment of the Terminator. However when I read that the same basic plot was going to be used (i.e. bad terminator sent back in time to kill John Connor and Arnie sent back too in order to protect him.) and that James Cameron would not be directing the film I started to doubt whether this sequel could live up to the first two.
The film begins well enough with John Connor (Stahl) telling how he lives 'off the grid' and how he still feels insecure about his future even though he prevented Judgement Day. This is followed by a stunning CGI scene, depicting the future war between Man and Machine.
It is not long before the new T-X arrives. Kristanna Loken plays the part of the T-X extremely well. She combines sexiness with cold-hearted ruthlessness excellently. The problem is that I find it difficult to find a stunningly beautiful woman scary and this was what was missing throughout the entire film. The fear factor and sinister ambience in the first two films was lacking here.
Shortly after the arrival of the T-X comes the main man. Arnie arrives looking just as good as he did in the previous two films. He certainly hasn't lost his terminator 'charisma'. Arnie goes in search of clothes and the scene that follows gives the impression that the Terminator, a hardened killing machine has been turned into a bit a joke, especially after he walks out of a strip joint brandishing a pair of star-shaped glasses. Arnie delivers one-liners throughout the film giving it more of a comedic sense. In the first two films the comedy was used not only to relieve tension, but to also develop the character of the Terminator. Arnie's terminator has lost a bit of its 'cool'. In T1 he was evil, T2 he was cool, in T3 he is a joke.
The action sequences in the film are second to none. The action sequences definitely live up to its predecessors. They aren't ground breaking, but are certainly highly entertaining Arnie riding a police bike is reminiscent of him in T2. When watching some of the action sequences you get a sense of déjà vu as some are similar to that of T2. A bit more originality would not have gone a miss.
After T2 we got the impression that Judgement Day had been avoided. However. This appears not to be the case. The terminator gives a one-line reason why Judgement Day has not been prevented and for me this was not good enough as it left a gaping hole in the plot. If the reason why Judgement Day had not been prevented had been explained properly then in would have added to the plot more. This unfortunately underlines the focus of the film. The focus being on special effects and action rather than on the story and characters.
Stahl delivers a competent performance and works well with Danes, who also delivers a good performance. I would rather have seen Edward Furlong reprising his role as John Connor, but Nick Stahl is an adequate replacement. Danes runs around like a screaming teenager in a horror movie in the first half of the movie, but eventually matures into a fighter like Sarah Connor in T2.
The final fight between the T-X and the T-101 sees Arnie deliver his final one liner. This probably will not be remembered as readily as ' I'll Be Back' or 'Hasta La Vista.. Baby', but is nevertheless a good line for Arnie to finish on. The final scene sees Judgement Day descend upon the world and leaves the film wide open to a sequel.
My final verdict: A good film by itself, but it lets down the Terminator series. 7/10