No fate but what we make or inevitability?

Rating: 8/10 (1 July 2003)

I've loved the first two (especially the second) Terminator movies ever since I can remember. I was only six years old when I saw the first one. This was because my parents left us with a babysitter who was not supposed to show us the film, but did anyway. If I still knew who that man was I would thank him today because at age six I was scared of the Terminator but loved Arnold Schwarzenegger. He is still my favorite actor today.
In the first two, the story is very similar, but the second movie gets deeper in thought. The quote, "There is no fate but what we make for ourselves" was a theme, so to speak, and it worked well. The machines sent a Terminator through time to change what the future had brought. Apparently John Connor is supposed to be the leader of the human race, and the machines feel he is going to be there demise. Since he is such a powerful leader in the future, they feel it be best to go back in time to destroy him before he becomes such an influential and strong man. In each movie the Terminator fails, but the machines appear to become more advanced (since model 101 was replaced with 1000 from the first to the second). At the end of T2, we get the idea that it must be the end, and Judgment Day was no longer in the world's future.
Enter Terminator 3. The "theme" in this movie is almost a contradiction to T2's theme. (semi-spoiler) The Terminator explains to John that Judgment Day is inevitable, and that John's fate is to become the leader of the human race. Therefore no matter what they do Judgment Day is still going to happen. The one thing that confused me was the fact that there was still a Terminator sent back to try and destroy John Connor. If the future is inevitable, then why send a machine back when they know it's not going to work? Maybe the idea that the future happens only one way is not true, but rather just a speculation. Whatever the outcome may be, the machines do realize the importance of John Connor and will try almost anything to terminate him.
The end of the movie was great, and I was quite amazed and shocked at it. I wasn't expecting it at all, but loved it just the same. The movie is also great because it lives up to the Terminator name. The special effects are mind-blowing and the scenes are intense. If you liked T2, you should definitely not wait to see this one. Besides, you want to see the fourth one as well, don't you? You decide, is it fate or inevitability that Terminator 4 will be in our future?