The absence of James Cameron is very noticeable (spoilers)

Rating: 1/10 (3 July 2004)

Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines follows the 1984 hit Terminator, and the 1991 hit Terminator 2: Judgment Day, two intelligent, well made films. T3 is the complete opposite of Terminator 1 and 2. Terminator 1 and 2 were both intelligent films, with a style and wit that to this day is unmatched. T3 was directed by Jonathon Mostow, a guy who knows how to handle his actions scenes, but a guy who also has no respect for T3's predecessors. Mostow has made some movies in the past, but I've only seen one: Breakdown. Breakdown was a very good movie that fleshed out it's characters and had a distinct feeling to it. Breakdown was a good movie. I liked it a lot. But, back to T3. T3 has some VERY entertaining and very well directed action scenes. But that's the problem. The movie is all action scenes, with no complex merit whatsoever. Though I like the action scenes, I have a strong problem with the way the movie was handled story wise. Jonathon Mostow, like I said, knows how to handle his actions scenes, and I'm sure he likes the previous Terminator movies. The problem is that he has no respect for the complex plot that comes with the first two movies. The first movies had a few holes, but they still managed to explain everything coherently. Terminator 3 does not do that. Jonathon Mostow completely ignores everything from the first movies, there are so many plot holes and questions that are unanswered, like how did Skynet suddenly continue development even though everything was destroyed in T2, and how does (SPOILER) Judgment Day suddenly become inevitable even though in the first films they make it clear that it can be stopped. All of these questions are unanswered, and as I sat in the theater almost exactly a year ago, I noticed all of these problems. When I walked out of the theater, I absolutely despised this movie because it betrayed the first films. I bought the DVD, and I didn't hate it as much. My feelings towards it now are mixed.
This time around, a female Terminator, the T-X, is sent back through time to kill John Conner (and someone else, who I wont mention). Again, the T-800 (I call it the T-800 because T-101 is a load of bulls***) is sent back to protect John. Here's another plot hole though: In the ending, they say Judgment Day is inevitable, so why would they bother to send a Terminator back to kill John? John was the one to prevent the war, but according to this movie, the war was going to happen no matter what, so why bother sending them back to kill John? The T-X objective is to 'Ensure the rise of the machines.' If the rising of the machines is inevitable, why would they send her back to ensure it? John couldn't have stopped the rise of the machines because it was inevitable, so why send them back? It just doesn't make a bit of sense. Jonathon Mostow could have also acknowledged a reason just to clear the air, like he could of said the arm that cut off from the T-800 in the first film was found by some people and used that to create the Terminators, and even though finding an arm and making an army of machines from it would be implausible it would still fill some plot holes and answer some questions. Instead, Jonathon Mostow goes down the path of the summer action movie, he loads his movie with nonstop shooting, nonstop explosions, and nonstop special effects, and as much as I enjoyed these fights, explosions, and bullets it still doesn't change the fact that the movie betrayed it's predecessors.
The T-X is played by Kristanna Loken, this is probably her first major role in a film. Loken is a hot blonde who had the potential to be a good Terminator but again, because of Jonathon Mostow, she failed. The greatest thing about Robert Patrick's performance in the first film was the fact that he was grim, he had absolutely no emotion in his face AT ALL, he truly embodied the characteristics of a cyborg, and he did one of the most grim performances in film history (in my opinion). Kristanna Loken doesn't do that. In most scenes, when Loken is supposed to show no emotion and not show any pleasure in killing, she does the opposite, and this is because Jonathon Mostow's crappy directing. More than half the time, Loken has a smirk on her face, and when she talks, she has WAY too much movement in her face. Supposedly, Jonathon Mostow liked the idea of having the T-X smirk, so he told Kristana to keep doing it, but Mostow forgets one thing: Loken is supposed to be a machine, one that isn't supposed to smile or anything like that, and sometimes, it looks like the T-X is taking pleasure in killing just by the look on her face, but people know pleasure is a human feeling, and people know machines cant have an human feelings. Robert Patrick made the T-1000 one of the best villains in film history, sadly, Kristana Loken didn't do anything she could with the T-X character, and it's mostly Jonathon Mostow's fault, the guy only knows how to direct explosions and car chases, but when it comes to directing complex characters like machines he fails. Arnold Schwarzenegger returns as the T-800 (again, I'm not calling it the T-101), and like his performances in the first films, it is top notch. Arnold is able to maintain the same feeling he pulled off in T1 and T2, without really changing the character. Arnold doesn't show emotions, but in T2, he does have emotions, and that's the point of his character in the end, but I guess in this he didn't really need to show the traits he had in the first movie. Arnold has aged over the years, but still proves that regardless of age, he can still be an action star, his performance is good, but in T2 he did a better job, probably because in that movie his character had more depth, more areas to explore like emotions, but in this one, all he has to do is be there and be a machine. In T2, Edward Furlong played John Conner. Furlong was signed on to this when it was announced, but due to drug and drinking problems, he was fired from the project, and Nick Stahl was hired the be John Conner. At first, I thought Stahl was a terrible choice to be John Conner, but it turns out that he actually did a good job at being the character. His acting job wasn't as good as Furlong's, but it was still pretty good. I cant say that replacing Furlong with Nick Stahl was a better idea because Furlong is the one who gave life to the character, but Nick Stahl does give a good performance.
When it comes to story, Terminator 3 falls flat on it's ass. Jonathon Mostow knows how to handle his actions scenes and his explosions and all that s***, but he doesn't know how to handle the storyline. When the predecessors to the movie you're doing are Terminator 1 and 2, you need to make sure that the story is preserved, you need to make sure that you fill each plot hole and explain everything, but the Terminator storyline is a storyline that can only be handled by one person: James Cameron. Jonathon Mostow chooses to ignore virtually everything. What he does to make sure audiences don't see these holes is he piles on an avalanche of action scenes, explosions, and guns, and even though I love all these things in movies, Terminator movies are more than just explosions and action. Jonathon Mostow seemed to want to just make his own movie, and just call it Terminator, because this movie has no relation to the first, it simply ignores every plot point and just tries to cloak all the holes with action, action, and more action. There is almost no character development, the pacing is completely off target, the movie is nothing but action.
The T-X was once intended to be a male Terminator, and to tell you the truth, it would have worked better that way. Kirstana Loken is extremely hot, but I don't think she fits in the role. It was said that Vin Diesel was considered for the role of the T-X, and to tell you the truth, Diesel would have been an excellent choice, because I think Diesel would have been able to not show any emotion, he would have been able to convey a dark, ruthless nature with the character, and he simply would have fit the role perfectly. Most people say no, they say Vin Diesel sucks, but these people let the popcorn movies he's done overshadow his good performances. In A Man Apart, Diesel did an excellent job at conveying the bitterness and darkness of the character, in Boiler Room his performance was good, and in Knockaround Guys his performance was also very good. Diesel would have fit perfectly as a Terminator, just as long as Jonathon Mostow didn't have anything to do with the movie. Diesel would have made the role work, he would have made the character emotionless and ruthless. He would have fit better than anyone else.
Terminator 3 was one of those sequels that nobody really asked for. Terminator 1 and 2 were two of the best films I've ever seen, and Terminator 2 finished off everything leaving no questions. Terminator 3 was not asked for, it should have never been made. The only reason why it was made was for one reason: Money. It's production budget was 175 million I believe, but it only made 150 million, which means it tanked, but a T4 is going to be made, without Arnold most likely, and Jonathon Mostow is supposedly going to direct. It's going to be a disaster, it's going to be a repeat of this. Mostow should be banned from making anything involving Terminator, he has no respect for the Terminator movies, he betrayed them, and he simply didn't care. Most people will say 'Terminator 3 was just supposed to be a summer action movie, it wasn't supposed to be complex, it was just supposed to be fun.' Statements like these are irrelevant, because the Terminator movies weren't ever supposed to be summer action films, they were supposed to be smart action movies with depth, they weren't supposed to be mindless like this. If Terminator 4 is made by Jonathon Mostow, it'll suck ass. If it's made by Cameron, it'll be great. T3 had so many unanswered questions like how did Skynet continue production, how could Judgment Day be inevitable, and how could anyone actually approve this movie without thinking about the complexity and wit of the first two films?
Score: 3 out of 10.