A Worthy Addition to the Terminator series

Rating: 8/10 (2 July 2003)

Warning: Spoilers Ahead
After 12 years since the classic T-2, Rise of the Machines has finally been unleashed into the marketplace. However much is missing from this film and that essential element is JAMES CAMERON himself. For the previous Terminator films, Cameron has provided his name to the credits of writer, producer and director. With his complete absence from the third installment, hardcore fans will definitely notice the change in style for T-3. This comes as both a positive and a negative. T-3 does not come close to being as good as T-2, however it is still a solid movie on its own. Its action is exciting and well executed, and it's visual and sound effects are far above average. However the presence of Cameron's humour and action is sorely missed. Perhaps this is because we were so used to him being attached to the first two films that with the addition of Jonathan Mostow instead as director, things just feel a little too different. I suppose one could compare this to Steven Spielberg's departure from Jurassic Park 3 (Lost World sucked, so maybe he was just being smart, but Jurassic Park 3 was the better movie overall). Jurassic Park 3 was handled by Joe Johnston instead and with its brisk running time, the action and humour was quick and fun. T-3 has the same feel to it. Its story is not as gripping and the human emotion is not as strong as T-1 or T-2. But credit must be given to the writers and director for their attempts at matching Cameron's previous works. This film serves as an addition to Sequel Summer 2003, but it's a better than average sequel for the most part.
The acting is decent for a Sci-Fi action film and as stated before, the action and visual/sound effects will keep you entertained. The humour from the three main central cast members of Arnold, Nick Stahl, and Claire Danes is just right (Arnold's one linear are for the most part fun, but maybe a little too used towards the end of the film.). The film is also not overly long, perhaps clocking in at exactly 120 minutes.
My only major problem with the film was its musical score by Marco Beltrami. I don't understand at all why Brad Fiedel was not used again to compose and conduct the musical score. His transition from T-1 to T-2 was amazing. The new score is not horrible; it's just not memorable at all. I left the theater missing the Terminator overture (however it is played during the end credits with less effect than the touching finale in T-2.)
Another oddity was "Where exactly did Arnie get the shotgun from?" We see him get his clothes, but when he first arrives to save Katherine Brewster, he is suddenly blasting away at the T-X. An easy mistake like this would have been avoided by Cameron. This is not a big deal, but before watching T-3, I viewed T-1 and T-2 again, and Cameron was quite careful with subtle details. Perhaps a deleted scene with commentary will clear this up, but this sort of problem gives way to the notion "This movie is pretty clean cut in terms of technicalities, but because of that one noticeable error, it annoys me."
As for the T-X, I thought she was a sexy robot assassin; however I could not help but feel her improvements as a Terminator were just modified for coolness and not for killing efficiency. T-X does not hold a candle to the T-1000 in terms of presence. For the most part, Kristanna Loken's attempt as a Terminator was well attempted, but falls flat. I never felt intimidated by her and she didn't have that poker face look that Robert Patrick had when asking "Are you the legal guardians of John Connor?'
I kept myself in the dark for T-3. I didn't want to ruin it for myself. I didn't follow any news from its official website or read magazine articles. I even felt that the trailers and TV spots were poor. But upon watching the film in theaters on opening day, I was satisfied with the end product. It was just a fun film to watch. I wish the film luck in breaking even with its $170 million U.S. budget.
8/10