Review of Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003) by Tim B — 15 Jun 2012

Aahhh the early decade; a time when the shitty sequels came out before the idea of shitty remakes. I admit; I really wasn't looking forward to this third chapter. Mainly because of James Cameron's absence, but I sucked it up and gave it a try.

Terminator 3 soon proved me wrong on my "sequels made a decade later" theories. It took a different direction than the other movies while still giving them full respect. It bitch slapped my fanboy expectations away quick, and I had a jolly ol' time with it! Not straying too far from the others, the circumstantial humor and references to the previous two were all over and had me giggling instead of whining.

The thing that I feared most about this third chapter was the human level. Nope, nothing wrong there either. The characters, their interactions and their backgrounds kept me as interested as the previous two.

Finally, the Terminatrix was a brilliant touch and a nice stray from the previous two while still keeping the same "feel". I can safely say all three robots in each movie freaked me out big time.

WOW! The action was non-stop, intense and full of surprises (the truck scenes... wow). The CGI was kept in the background and actually enhanced the real action instead of taking it over! This was the most realistic-looking Terminator yet! Jonathan Mostow took his own directing route and I can't say that I blame him.

Would you really want him to rip off Cameron? He still kept some similar shots but put his own touch on them, making them familiar, yet unique. He did a great job. Arnold Schwarzenegger never lost his touch in the ten year gap and still had it.

Nick Stahl had what it took to pull off a layered character like John Connor and did it perfectly. Claire Danes was great in her almost "replacement" role. This movie solidified her for me. Kristanna Loken both creeped me out and turned me on.

She gave a very one-note and convincing performance while also looking sexy as hell. Alas, the movie is not perfect. It does leave the threat of The Terminatrix a bit too long in parts. When she showed up, I was in suspense mode but I didn't feel that throughout the whole movie like I did the other two.

I also wish it had been a bit more violent. There was a lot of off-screen deaths and left me wanting more. But this is an excellent third chapter if I ever saw one and should be put in a dictionary under 'Blockbuster.

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