An excellent installment, worth the 12-year wait.

Rating: 10/10 (14 July 2003)

When I first heard that James Cameron wasn't going to be involved with the third installment to this fantastic series, I was less than pleased. The thought of another director taking over the franchise kind of upset me, I just had to hope that they would find a director that could fill those rather large shoes. I later heard that Jonathan Mostow was named director of T3 and was pleased due to being VERY impressed with both of his previous directorial efforts, "Breakdown" and "U-571", but of course I was still skeptical.
So the film was finally released and of course I went and saw it opening weekend. Let me tell you I was NOT let down! I thought the film was truly fantastic! I'm sure a lot of people will disagree with me and I'm sure plenty might even get upset with me, but I thought "Terminator 3" was just as good as both previous installments of the series. They all had their pros and they all had their cons.
I was at first a little uneasy with the idea of a female terminator. But, after seeing the film and thinking about I've come to the conclusion that having a female terminator if a brilliant idea. What would have an easier time infiltrating just about anything? A gorgeous and sexy woman or a large intimidating man? The woman, definitely! Besides, Jonathan Mostow did such a fantastic job with the T-X that it just worked perfectly.
The special effects in the film are truly amazing, looking even better than the effects in T2. There were VERY few times where I thought it looked like obvious CG. There is one scene in the first few minutes of the film that show a slew of Terminators walking around doing what they do that nearly brought tears to my eyes, it looked so awesome! I won't get into the specifics, but the special effects are reason enough to see this film.
The actors all did a fantastic job. I thought Nick Stahl was an excellent replacement for Edward Furlong. When I first heard Nick was taking over the role I didn't think he looked the part, but he really pulled it off. In fact, in the end, I'm happier that Nick took over the role rather than Edward Furlong continuing his role, because I really don't think Edward looks the part anymore, he was fine as the young John Connor, but I don't think he'd work well as the John Connor of this film. Claire Danes did a fantastic job as well, she pulled off a great job in the film and looks as beautiful as ever. Kristanna Loken plays the part of the T-X very well, looking sexy as can be and doing a great job with her facial expressions and her limited dialogue. I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for her future work. Then of course, there's the great Arnold Schwarzenegger, reprising his role as The Terminator (T-800/T-101). Arnold, again was excellent as the Terminator and didn't let me down. There is also a very nice cameo by Earl Boen, the only other actor to reprise a role from the first two installments in the Terminator series. Despite having very little screen time, he did a great job and I was very happy to see him in the film.
Personally I thought the story in this film was great and very well thought out. There are a few things that may have been overlooked or improperly explained, but nonetheless, this is a movie we're talking about here and there are bound to be a few plot holes, so I didn't let those little things affect my enjoyment of the film.
The only thing I would complain about if I had to, is some of the humor in the film. I won't deny that the jokes were funny, but I thought some were a little misplaced, this is, after all an R-rated sci-fi/action film. There were only really two or three comedic moments that I thought should have been excised from the film, but otherwise I thought everything worked pretty well.
I would definitely recommend this film to anyone that liked the previous Terminator films. I would hope that you can enjoy this for what it is and not what James Cameron MIGHT have done had he directed the film. Just because Cameron opted not to direct the film does not mean it's a bad film. Don't get hung up on the fact that Cameron didn't direct it, just sit back and enjoy the ride. Thanks for reading my review, and be sure to check out my reviews for both previous films: "The Terminator" and "Terminator 2: Judgment Day".