Arnold Delivers!

Rating: 9/10 (2 July 2003)

Wow, just got back from Arnold's new flick, or perhaps it's not only Arnold's: wonderful to see him finally again sharing the screen with other actors. The film truly delivered, it was action packed, yet, unlike the matrix, the action was remarkably realistic (as realistic as you can go with robots from the future). Arnie was in his old form: fewer lines, more punching, and yes he was funny... Almost all of his one-liners worked with the crowed, and yap, a number of times the theater burst out laughing. The plot was strong, and while it wasn't adventurous by having too many side plots, it delivered, and stayed strong through out the movie.
Performances were excellent: John Connor (Nick Stahl) was strong and convincing, Arnie was Arnie , and TX (Kristanna Loken) was hot yet managed to stay scary... The only major actor who I was not really positive about was Kate Brewster (Claire Danes) they tried to replace John's mom with a new face, but I think they should have dropped that personality from the story...
Special FX were well done, but not over done... They left off from the old T2, and managed to have the same combination of CGI effects and real effect (i.e. explosions) in a very convincing fashion, quiet amazing... However, while T2's effects were groundbreaking, T3's were just plain excellent...
Finally the ending sequence and the twist, were unexpected and positive, and in my honest opinion left the crowed very happy.
The movie wasn't as smooth as T2, and probably could best be compared to ease of transition to The Transporter and Bourn Identity, the best recent action films I could think of.
Overall the film was a surprise, I expected eye candy, and I certainly got it, but the strong preferences and compelling plot elevated it to the top action film in recent memory. So anyone who can enjoy an action film should see this one!
8.5/10