Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines

July 20, 2003

Starring:Arnold Schwarzenegger, Nick Stahl, Claire Danes, David Andrews, Kristanna Loken

Director: Jonathan Mostow

Official Website: http://www.terminator3.com/

It took over ten years, but it's finally here. The flick has plenty of the good stuff already done in the first two installments, but didn't make the splash I expected from it now that we have films whose special effects are practically imposible to top and their new actors are only satisfactory.

To say that Arnold makes this movie is an understatement. He's funny, he's bad, he's the reason for this movie. But this movie is also smart. I would really need to see the first two again to verify everything holds up, but the ideas of time travel and destiny are explored once again even deeper this time.

The thing that is lacking is the special effects that makes our jaw drop. It's not they are bad, but they are only respectabably better than the ones in T2 and only slightly better than average with all the technology available today. The Matrix and The Lord of the Rings series have made it very difficult for other special effects flicks to really impress us. Also the supporting actors are only ok and sometimes less than. The new terminatrix is sexy and that's about it, not nearly as frightening as Robert Patrick in T2. With as much time as the movie had to be great, it's hard to imagine another Terminator sequel that will ever come close to living up to expectations of hungry fans. But does this mean we shouldn't see them? After all, The Matrix can't constantly outdo itself. With a couple of years of work, I think T4 has a chance to catch up and be the no. 1 action and special effects flick of it's time.

In short:
Comedy: A lot of what Arnold says is funny
Violence/language: It's T3...What do you expect?!?
Nudity/sex: No explicit nudity, but some borderline shots
High Points: High action, funny, great ending
Low Points: Not all special effects great, other actors only ok

Rating: B