The Machines Rise Indeed

Rating: Null/10 (4 March 2004)

Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines was a project that had nothing going for it. Without James Cameron behind the camera (or involved in any way at all), many thought the project was doomed from day one. With a new director, Jonathan Mostow (U-571), a new John Connor, Nick Stahl (Bully), and a story that seemed like a rehash of Terminator 2: Judgment Day it seemed that the naysayers would be right. I am pleased to say that they were only half correct about this film.
Ten years after John and Sarah Connor, with the help of a friendlier T-800, were able to stop the T-1000 and Judgment Day, John is in hiding. His fears prove to be well-founded as another, later model terminator, the T-X (the smashingly gorgeous Kristanna Loken), travels back to 2003 with a new mission. In the midst of the chaos, John meets Kate Brewster (Claire Danes of My So-Called Life fame), and it seems that their meeting at this time is not so much coincidence. A T-800 (Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger) leads John and Kate on a journey to learn the truth behind Judgement Day and to stop the T-X.
Terminator 3 is not the bomb that many thought it was going to be. Mostow is wise enough to keep the tone and the look of the movie close enough to Cameron's style as to not alienate this film from the rest of the series. He does, however, throw enough of his own flair into the mix that we do not feel we are watching an exact replica of Judgment Day. There are scenes of action in this film that are simply breathtaking to behold. Not thirty minutes into the movie one of the greatest scenes of vehicular mass destruction takes places and the movie rarely lets up until the end. The film begins to border ridiculousness in the action arena when you begin to notice that something blows up every ten to fifteen minutes. Fortunately, however, each and every action scene is a joy to watch.

The actors here are all very strong. Schwarzenegger and Loken are both excellent in their parts. Arnold would have had no excuse to not play a perfect terminator; the real worry lay with the ability of Loken, a virtual unknown, to carry such a heavy role. Loken is a real delight as the T-X with her ability to create small moments with only her head and face movements. Nick Stahl is believable as John Connor and does a good job throughout. Claire Danes is decent in her role though she would qualify as the weakest link amongst the cast.
The real problem with the movie is the script. As hard as it tries, the story here is nothing we haven't seen from a Terminator film. Its good terminator versus bad terminator premise was carried out to much greater effect ten years ago with Judgment Day. The time-travel aspect and inherent paradoxes therein reach a new level of confusion in this film as both terminators have unnatural knowledge of each other's movements from the very beginning and the audience is left to wonder why this movie needed to be created after the finality of the last film. Also, there is far too much goofiness involving Arnold's terminator. Where Terminator 2 used carefully placed and crafted bits of humor to showcase the small bit of humanity contained within the machine, Terminator 3 uses the terminator as ludicrous comic relief when none is needed. Finally, the much talked about ending is admittedly a little weak and underwhelming in light of the rest of the film.

There is no escaping comparison to the two films that came before Rise of the Machines. The first two in the trilogy are true examples of modern classics. While Terminator 3 tries its best, it is by far the weakest of the series. The admirable job done by the cast and crew to ensure this films place in the series, however, is to be commended. With less brains and more popcorn value, this film should satisfy most fans of the action filled saga.