T3 - a 'What if' movie?

Rating: 5/10 (4 August 2003)

The first question that came to mind was 'Should I see it?' With no Jim Cameron it seemed a little pointless. However, I had to go have a look. Now that I have, I feel rather indifferent to it. T3 is a high-octane action movie, a great Saturday night popcorn film and lots of fun. And in that respect everything is OK. But next to the other two movies, this film isn't worthy of the Terminator history. T1 was a scary film for me, I saw it when I was still at school especially when Reece tells Sarah that the terminator won't stop till she is dead. T2 was incredible! It kept the essence of T1 without being effected by a bigger budget. These two films had intensity, excellent pacing and PRESENCE. T3 lacked all of these elements. When a terminator in T3 walked or stood and looked at something, you didn't feel their power, and the TX, unfortunately, wasn't intimidating and although the TX had more gadgets that any T model she still seemed inferior to the T1000. Above all else there was no emotional connection to any of the characters including Arnie. The story doesn't jibe that well with the other two films (Didn't Skynet need the Terminator CPU to become aware?) T3 dealt more with fate as where the time travel was a plot device in the other two films rather than a theory to be explored. That's why I will see this as a 'What if' film. A non-official look at what would have happened if everything went wrong. As far as I am concerned T2 ended the story. James Cameron's absence from the T3 production as a whole was more than noticeable(Act 1 blurred into act 2 and before you knew it - it was the end!). At the end of the day you should still see this film as a bit of entertainment, there's nothing wrong in that at least, and although Arnie looks older, his energy hasn't diminished one bit! 6 out of 10!