The best action movie this summer

Rating: 8/10 (25 July 2003)

Bottom line: while not as epically cast as 'Terminator 2' nor as low-budget gritty as the original 'Terminator,' 'Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines' delivers precisely what it set out to do -- create high-budget kinetic fun with characters by now so familiar that dialogue is rarely ever necessary -- which is much much more than one can say about almost every other film this summer. (The exceptions, of course, are 'X2,' 'Finding Nemo' and '28 Days Later.') Der Arnold fits his role like finely-cut body-built hand to black- leather glove, and new-to-the-series director Jonathan Mostow injects a very welcome sense of knowing humor into the proceedings. Meanwhile, somehow Nick Stahl and Claire Danes manage to not only avoid the curse of the young-pretty-talented-actor- cast-in-overwhelming-Hollywood-spectacle, but actually ELEVATE the film with their subtle, emotionally grounded performances.
8/10