A solid if flawed follow up

Rating: 8/10 (5 September 2007)

A lot of people thought this movie was a bad idea before it even materialised which meant that there was always going to be hostility to the finished product. Personally, i thought it was a cool idea - provided the filmmakers could come up with a good story. The end product beats the expectations of the haters but falls short of producing a truly amazing follow up.
The plus points of this movie are the amazing fx and chase scenes. The crane truck chase is one of my favourite action movie scenes ever, and is timed perfectly. The story line has been pushed along, with the realisation that Judgement Day cannot be stopped. This comes true at the end of the film with the bombs going off while some gentle classical music plays in the background. It's incredibly poignant for a Terminator movie and a great way to end the film. And of course, seeing Arnold as the now iconic Terminator when we all thought he'd bogged off to be a politician is a very welcome sight.
There are however, a lot of niggles that add up to a fair amount of disappointment for the true fans. Nick Stahl takes some getting used to and Claire Danes is just terrible with her granny hair cut and bad clothes. The return of Dr. Silberman is unnecessary, as is the gay sunglasses joke.
The most annoying aspect is in the continuity - the van that the good guys are driving hits at least 2 other vehicles at high speeds and gets squashed between 2 cop cars as well as being spun 360 yet when it is seen afterwards for a good few scenes it is intact! I can't believe this terrible blooper made it through! Its so obvious, even on first watch that it spoils the film for me.
Yet despite it's flaws T3 is a good solid action film, just like the recent Die Hard 4.0 - you know what you're getting and OK its a bit old hat, but for thrills alone it's definitely worth a watch.