For me the series goes from best to the worst (but still good!)

Rating: 7/10 (18 July 2003)

This is a definite return to form for Arnie and his first box office hit (maybe, depending on the drop off) and critical hit since ironically his last outing as the T-800, in T2. Yes True Lies was a box office hit but critically the response was very mixed, although fairly good in Britain. This is also his best since True Lies, it has more in the way of story but the action doesn't quite come up to Jim Cameron standard (little does!).

Before going on about the strengths of this film I'll comment on the weaknesses. The film has a lot to live up to, and in the end fails to live up to the first two films, while it is still a worthy sequel. Some of the significant weaknesses are the fact that the story is not as interesting or clever, it doesn't have as much character development, although in John's case it does however the other roles are weaker than Sarah Conner and previously Kyle Reese. There is only one prominent 3 dimensional role. As I say Claire Dane's role as Kate Brewster is underwritten and subsequently she is wasted, for instance her fiance is killed by the TX and it has little effect on her, it is not touched upon and is forgotten within five minutes, then the developing relationship between her and John gives her an air of coldness. The thrills lack the excitement and punch of the first two, which is not to say they aren't exciting, but hey its up against Jim. The final action scene is the weakest of all three films and is semi rehashed from the first film. The main problem is that the humour of the film is not as subtle as number 1 or two. It seems that as the franchise has moved along the humour has increased, but here it is bordering on spoof.

Another key problem is that Arnie no longer is the head of the movie, he doesn't command the screen like he used to, and his role seems to be that of the Terminator doing an impression of the Terminator, funny as it is to see him send himself up slightly, the humour is far to overt and corny. There doesn't seem to be a need for Arnies character in this one (in terms of the way it is written rather than his overall impact in the story, he still has to save them but aside from that his presence is solely about laughs), the TX is a great adversary and once again Arnie plays protector but his role still wasn't 100% pivotal. T1 and T2 with no Arnold and they would be half of what they are, he held the movies together, his role is written with so much comedy involved that he seems like a caricature, it thankfully doesn't affect his dramatic moments too much though. Some other problems are the disappointing impact of Arnies change from good to bad, this could have been much more exciting, in the end it is very brief and lacks punch. Also the future war scenes that gathered much fan interest before the films release are very small and no more than the first two films, I would liked to have seen more because the idea excited me, that is not too big a problem though as it is bound to happen in the next instalment. To round it off into one sentence, it doesn't feel like the Terminator films that Jim Cameron weaned us on! Also Beltrami's score isn't as memorable as the synthy resonance of Brad Fiedels scores. The score seemed fairly cliched and not as inspirational as some of Marcos other work.
Okay my disappointments out the way, and I was a little disappointed at the film considering the early reviews suggested it was going to be very, very good, I found much to enjoy. John Connors role is good and Nick Stahl plays it well, in fact he holds the movie, and this is vital considering the minimal scripting of the other characters, mind you the major focus on him is warranted of course. The action is good, a little over hyped maybe, such as the supposed 15 minute car chase that must have been 5 at most. Even though the film doesn't seem like a 200 million budget there is still plenty of bang for your buck. The TX rocks. Kristanna Loken looks amazing and she looks like a bad ass bitch, she has made a great movement of her own for the TX. She overdoes it at times but she really steals the movie and steals Arnies thunder. The script is pretty good, especially compared to most actioners, it does suffer from some bad dialogue but even the classic first two films had its moments, what action film doesn't? Of course one of the main things was that it was great to see Arnie back in a big action movie kicking some ass, delivering zingers (that were very Commando, very True Lies, a bit too hokey for the Terminators, but still funny) and handling large weaponry, who else but Arnold could walk out with a coffin full of weapons on one shoulder and a large calibre weapon in the other hand and single handedly wipe out a squad of police vehicles. With a 150 (at least) plus gross under his belt he now will have better options open to him rather than pap like Collateral Damage. There are smiles on the faces of Ah-nuld fans once more with his first truly decent film in nearly ten years (I don't care what critics say True Lies was the dogs bollocks in terms of mindless fun). T3 will be a worthy edition to any action fans DVD collection, and despite Mostow perhaps overstretching himself, going from a 40 million to a 200 million budget production, he is still looking like a top new director coming through, although as its only his third big film in 6 years he needs to accelerate the releases. Most definitely a worthwhile sequel but it falls far short of the first two. Bring on number 4 baby. ***1/2