Exceeds what one might expect from a sequel

Rating: 8/10 (2 September 2003)

The story will be familiar to followers of the series so far: a cyborg killing machine is sent back in time from a future where machines rule the Earth, to eliminate John Connor, the future rebel leader and saviour of humanity. At the same time, a good Terminator' in the form of a T-101 model (i.e. Schwarzenegger) is sent back with the mission to keep Connor alive for the day when the Skynet system is due to launch its first attack on humanity. This may sound mostly like a tiresome rerun of Terminator 2' but apparently, Sarah and John Connor did not prevent Judgment Day in Terminator 2' they only postponed it! Also, the twist and selling point here, is that this time the baddie' is T-X, a female supermodel Terminator' which is far superior to the T-101 (an obsolete model').
Of the original main cast, only Arnie is back; Sarah Connor is dead as Linda Hamilton did not want to star in another sequel and Edward Furlong has been replaced by Nick Stahl to play John Connor. Another new face to the cast is Claire Danes who gives an appealing performance as the suitably bewildered and vulnerable girl destined to be John Connor's wife. With a delay of twelve years since T2 Judgment Day' was released, Schwarzenegger's career on the decline and him revisiting the role for a third instalment, there is obviously a lot of pressure on this one to deliver the goods, and it certainly does.
Schwarzenegger is key to much of the fun of the film; his delivery of one-liners with robotic seriousness and Austrian accent is superb. As a result, I found the film hilarious in parts. At the start of the film, there is a re-run of two cyborgs being zapped back from the future nude and this makes for one of the funniest scenes in the film where a naked Arnie strides into Ladies night at a bar to be mistaken for a stripper by the raucous attendees. He then steals the stage dancer's leather biker costume before trying on his star-shaped shades he off course soon ditches these for the by now familiar and way cooler black shades!
A lot of excitement is to be had from the film's action set-pieces and chases and this is down to the relentlessness of the T-X who like her predecessor, can shape herself into another human being and pull herself back together whatever gun you use to shoot at her. Surprisingly, the ending is affecting as it reflects the inevitability of Connor's future role as a leader despite his reluctance to believe throughout. Also, (I actually feel a bit silly for admitting it) I was unexpectedly moved by the scene where the T-101 struggles to override the corruption that the T-X has implanted in his program so that he alternates between conflicting missions of killer/protector of John Connor.
I have to admit that I didn't totally get the plot and was a bit lost with regards the references to the Skynet system. However, if you just go with the flow and don't think too much about the story, Terminator 3 makes for undemanding entertainment.