Review of Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003) by Allan C — 07 Jul 2012

An unfairly maligned Terminator sequel. It's not as good as the still superior James Cameron directed first two installments, but this film has gotten better with age, especially when compared to the dull yet overblown fourth film.

This film is missing the strong script on the first two films, particularly in terms of characterization, but it makes up for it with some top notch action. And besides the overall story being weaker, my main other complaint with the script is the winking humor the permeates the first part of the film.

It also doesn't help that the best action scene is the first one in the film, where none of the subsequent scene can live up to it (kind of like the opening bloodbath scene in the first "Blade" film).

Sill, director Jonathan Mostow delivers some spectacular action sequences that are big, thrilling and tough. I greatly appreciate that he didn't use his enormous budget to create vapid overproduced Michael Bay style action scenes.

Kristanna Loken is good as the new upgraded terminator and everyone else does a passable job, though Claire Danes stands out as giving the best performance. Overall, it's a solid action film, but unfortunately pales when compared to the first two films.