A poor sequel to a wonderful series, a joke of a Terminator movie.

Rating: 6/10 (25 August 2003)

It's a shame, this movie started off so well, and with so much promise, despite the concern as to the absence of James Cameron, I thought the plot looked good and Arnie was back.
However, it really quickly turned into a joke of a Terminator movie. Not much brooding terror as the Terminator entered the present day again; comic laughs were played for from the outset. Surely Leslie Nielson was due in at any second?
Saying that, there were some of the original elements still there, the darkness; the downside to the story; the future twist that was yet to happen and you'd probably never see, and the human moments while the excitement was still thick in the air. Unfortunately, many of these were just swept over quickly in short bursts of dialogue to make way for another huge set piece.
Not that the set pieces weren't amazing, it's just that by the end of the film, you feel that it was almost all a collection of set pieces. The audience was hardly given time to digest the shocking revelation from the Terminator, nor did any of the characters discuss it before heading off into the fight again.
The other thing that hit me were the completely corny moments, two in particular stand out, the chance meeting of John Connor and his old school chum. How amazing was that considering that John Connor continually keeps moving and never stays in the same place? Then there was the need for the new Terminator to announce her findings of the DNA sampling to absolutely no one, despite the audience having already seen them flashed across her computer enhanced vision. American audiences I assume.
In fact, the new Terminator isn't that scary or foreboding, and often she looks clumsy and awkward. Not a patch on the Terminator in T3, in fact none of the characters live up to their predecessors.
I have heard talk of more sequels. I can only pray that James Cameron is out there, reading these, having watched the film, and decides he can't let the series be butchered again. Make another one, finish the series off and do it well Mr Cameron!