Thankfully NOT a blockbuster movie (some spoilers)

Rating: 8/10 (6 July 2003)

Compared to some of the other movies released this summer (such as Matrix Reloaded and The Hulk) the hype machine was not running full-bore for T3, in my opinion. As a result, I found myself more able to appreciate the movie's strengths without much in the way of pre-conceived notions getting in the way.
Rather than a total deconstruction of T3, I'd rather just mention what I liked about it:
1. First and foremost-- the ending. I was worried that T3 would continue with the plot point established in the first two Terminator movies: that the Terminator was sent through time to prevent the awful future from taking place. Not only was this done to death in the others in the series, but was the whole point behind the Back to the Future trilogy (only the result in that series was much more clever). It was a welcome change to see this dealt with in a different way, one that echoes some of the essential pessimism of T2.
2. While in general I agree with other comments in this forum that the portrayal of the T-X lacked some of the feeling of menace of Robert Patrick's performance in T2, Kristanna Loken managed to capture and reproduce many of Patrick's mannerisms: the sideways tilt of the head, the eyes looking upward while the head was lowered, etc. It gave me the impression that they both were programmed with the same instruction set.
3. With the exception of the pneumatic breast scene (which was basically there for laughs), the T-X did NOT infiltrate and further her goals by means of sexuality-- a departure from most SF movies featuring superhuman females.
4. Though there was a different director and Linda Hamilton did not appear, I felt that there was a strong effort made to keep the story consistent with the rest of the Terminator mythos. For example: the tank-like machines that were activated by the Terminatrix also appeared in one or more of the Terminator video games that have been made over the years since T2. I appreciate this attention to detail.
All in all, I got my money's worth. It was entertaining but was (blessedly) not a huge, overblown megablockbuster movie.
Loud, though.