Mostow's mean machine

Rating: Null/10 (24 August 2003)

In 1991 T2 was a sociological and technological touchstone; CGI came of age, morphing became the subject of water-cooler conversations and a generation of aspiring artists (myself included) augmented pencil and paper with a graphics tablet. This breakthrough paved the way for the Jurassic Park franchise and, perhaps controversially, the Star Wars prequels.
Jonathan Mostow (U-571), conscious that the bar was raised too high on T2, saliently leverages James Cameron's legacy and designs a thunderous rollercoaster ride that deftly mixes sci-fi and slasher genre thrills.
Kristanna Loken's cyborg candy replaces Robert Patrick's liquid-metal Lucifer (T-1000) in T3. The transforming T-X combines svelte endoskeleton with cool couture. The director utilises the T-X as an object of fetish, and takes satirical swipes at consumer culture. This machine is as vain as the species it intends to eradicate. Loken acquits herself admirably, but never approaches the polite terror of Patrick's pseudo officer.
Whilst characterisation is subject to minimalist treatment, Claire Danes (Kate Brewster) and Nick Stahl's (John Connor) chemistry is palpable and poignant.
Composer Marco Beltrami (the Scream franchise), whilst referencing Brad Fiedel's motifs, paints a surprisingly rich and evocative score that owes much to Prokofiev and Russian romanticism.
This third act inevitably dives into self-parody a la Return of the Jedi. However, whereas that overblown instalment foreshadowed the decline of George Lucas' space opera, Mostow's mean machine - from the vehicular chase to proto Hunter Killers - is determined to entertain in the form of pumped-up popcorn theatre!
The hyper violence is tenuously justified by the genuinely affecting denouement, which references, both stylistically and thematically, classic sci-fi of the 20th century. With or without the iconic figure of Schwarzenegger, this instalment promises that there is more to come from the Terminator franchise.