An above average action flick that embarrasses the franchise

Rating: 6/10 (11 November 2003)

T3 is a pretty good action movie with enough destruction to sustain the movie. But, the movie falls much short of the epic scope which was provided by T1 and T2. Jonathon Mostow does a commendable job of keeping the pacing tight and action high, but does very little with the story line. It is essentially a retread of T2.
In addition, I can forgive Mostow for using way too many absurd jokes at the expense of the Terminator in order to get a few chuckles from the audience.(Talk to the hand?!! Elton John glasses?!!)
I don't think there could have been a better action movie made than T2. The only man who could have attempted to undertake T3 and make it as good as its predecessors would have to be James Cameron. But I believe Cameron opted out because he knew himself he could not do it and did not want to dissapoint the audience.
On the plus side, the movie does seem to get better and better as you progress to the end. The crane action stunt is absolutely amazing. And we have to mention Arnie. The man is and forever will be remembered as the Terminator. The TX again is a passable advesary, but Robert Patrick's T1000 will be remembered as the best villian from the Terminator series.
I think this movie is definitely a rental. Not much on the DVD and the flick does not warrant multilple viewings ala T2. I am sure there will be some sort of triple deluxe super edition in a couple of years just in time for Governor Arnie to make a come back in T4 fresh in his Golden years.
6/10 /mb