Review of Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003) by F B — 12 Oct 2015

Of the many action films that Arnold Schwarzenegger has built his career on, one role has defined his career; the Terminator. So it is no surprise that after two ground-breaking films, the Terminator franchise is "back" with a third entry.

Unfortunately, Arnold is past his prime and "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines" has nothing significant to contribute to the Terminator mythos. It retreads a lot of the same ground that "Judgment Day" covered, and even falls into self-parody at times. Still, there is a decent amount of great action, especially a really great chase scene that almost captures the excitement of the chase scenes in "T2". The film is unaided by the T-X, who doesn't really up the ante; she is just like the T-1000, except with the added effect of being a femme fatale. The one thing I will say I really enjoyed was the ending, where we get to witness the beginning of Judgment Day and John Connor accepting his fate.

What made "The Terminator" great was the novelty and originality of the story. What made "Judgment Day" great was the strong character development and intense action. "Rise of the Machines" lacks both novelty and character development, leaving only action, which can only carry you so far. While "Rise of the Machines" is by no means a bad film, most of the moments I enjoyed of it were moments that reminded me how much I love the first two films, and not the one I was watching.