The terminator is alive and healthyÂ…again

Rating: Null/10 (1 July 2003)

I really loved Terminator, but Terminator 2 was kind of a disappointment. Moments full of action, sometimes very slow (and almost boring) and no story at all.
However, for Rise of the Machines, Mr. Mostow, the same who was able to do something with acceptable with Jurassic Park III (another extinct franchise), came to the rescue and got something sometimes better, sometimes (particularly by the end) darker and overall funnier than both predecessors.

Two Terminators come back to the past to defend/destroy the future resistance. The obsolete but still useful T-1 (Arnold better than ever) and the new model (Kristanna Loken) whose more interesting advantage is her ability to control other machines. The future has changed, but judgment day is still unavoidable, and the importance of the players has somewhat shifted. John Connor is one of the targets, but there are others as important as him. Also, this time the story has a couple of un-exploited but interesting twists and the darkest ending of the series.

Arnold character, has a lot more development than the previous films. He owns almost all the jokes and together with Claire Danes completely controls the screen. Nick Stahl is sadly not on the same level. While Edward Furlong (on the same character in T-2) looked like a future leader, Nick looks like a future looser, not near the fighter he is supposed to become.
The action, this time deserves special mention. The first car chase is worth the price of the ticket. MATRIX looks pale in comparison and the special effects does not look `digital' at all. This seems to be real cars and buildings destroyed. If really it was a trick I am buying it.
My only complain (aside from Stahls character) is the restrain of some scenes. It looks that they really targeted the PG-13 (the movie is rated R), and failed, but the feeling is that they could have go further but they didn't.
This is a 4.5 stars over 5; I hope they keep the same quality on Terminator 4.