fortunately i got in for free

Rating: 6/10 (6 July 2003)

i was so hyped up to see this movie. from the day i first heard it was announced to the week of its release, it was the one movie i was actually looking forward to. buddy of mine that worked at our local cinema-plex got me in for free and i sat down with only the best of intentions. i knew something was wrong the minute the opening credits came up and "holy sh*t?! wheres the all to familiar Terminator theme by Brad Fiedel?" i almost wanted to cry. by the end of the movies i had more questions than just those to ask. like why did they send poor Arnold's model back to fight off the T-X? the t-800 vs. the t-1000 wasnt so bad and it put Arnold at a little disadvantage and made him have to outwit the thing. if they were even, then it wouldnt have been interesting. but the t-800 vs. the t-x wasnt even remotely fair. its like a toaster vs. a flamethrower. what the hell were the story writers thinking?
acting wise, the movie was average. Arnold played his part as the emotionless cyborg excellently as usual. Nick Stahl was pretty convincing as the future leader John Connor and Claire Danes was just there. nothing really standing out in her role. Newcomer Kristanna Loken played the T-X very well. Unfortunately the new female terminator just didnt seem as terrifying as the previous terminators and really didnt give you that sense of hopelessness and despair as Robert Patrick's and Arnold's previous terminator roles did. you wanna be scared of the terminator, not drool over it. but i guess that was the whole point. drool and be scared at the same time.
overall, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines was an entertaining summer flick and one of the better big-budget action movies released in a while. the ending was one that made you think yet very dissapointing. kinda like terminator sorta kinda maybe 2.5. i think James Cameron's direction would have been much better. an average action flick with the Terminator name stamped on it.