Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003)

Director: Jonathan Mostow
Story: John Brancato, Michael Ferris, Tedi Sarafian
Cast: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Nick Stahl, Claire Danes, Kristanna Loken
Music: Marco Beltrami
Time: 105 minutes
Bottom-line: T3 ruins the series (though not as much as Terminator Salvation)

I should have seen this film along with the other two Terminator films (but for some reason, didn’t), and now that I finally did see the third installment, I felt that I had wasted 105 minutes of time. Released twelve years after James Cameron’s Terminator 2, this film tells the story of the last attempt of the machines to kill John Connor. Arnold Schwarzenegger reprises his role as the T-850, while Nick Stahl, Claire Danes and Kristanna Loken star for the first time in the series.

Schwarzenegger as T-850

Sarah Connor is dead due to leukaemia, and John Connor (Stahl) has been living off the grid in LA for nine years. He does not believe that the humans have successfully prevented Judgment Day (the day where machines take over the Earth). Skynet sends T-X (Loken), a robot in the form of a female, back in time, to locate and wipe-out John, his future wife Kate Brewster (Danes), and all his future lieutenants. T-X can also change form, and is made of liquid metal. Like before, the Resistance also sends back a machine, T-850 (Schwarzenegger) to protect John and Kate. What follows is obvious...

Stahl as John Connor

The first film brought forth a new concept, and hence I liked the film. The second film had pretty much the same story and same elements as the first, but the spectacular special effects made up for the lack of a new story. Now this film has the same story (which, by this time, is really boring), poorer acting, and the special effects are never as good as those used in T2. In short, had this film come earlier, or had it been made a separate film (i.e. not part of the series), I would have liked it a little better; but since neither of those happened, the film is one big bore.

Danes as Kate Brewster

The story, as I said, includes a small introduction to the characters, and then nothing else but one chase after another. I felt that T2 had a ‘believable’ amount of disaster and action, but in this film, it went over the limit. The visual effects are good, but are not used properly. The camera work was good, and the score was fairly decent. But I felt that the story lacked innovation. The entry of the Terminators was the same, the action scenes were not very different either, the dialogues were poor... and by the end of the film, I was happy that Cameron and Linda Hamilton made the right decision to not be part of the third installment (though Wikipedia says that Cameron himself enjoyed the film).

Loken as T-X

In the previous Terminator films, Schwarzenegger gave the worst acting performance (and this is not surprising). However, in T3, his acting was the best! I guess that is enough to tell you how badly the others have acted. Stahl had a few bright moments here and there, but overall, his acting was poor. Claire Danes could have done much better; and Loken... well, her character needed no acting at all, and she didn’t do any acting either! I guess the cast (and most of the crew) realised - after this film – that the series was ruined, and hence none of them acted in the next installment: Terminator Salvation.

To sum up, Jonathan Mostow’s Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines does one thing superbly – it wastes your time. So, just skip this film, unless you are dying to just complete the series (like me). The special effects are okay, the acting is poor, and the cinematography may be the only good thing. Yet, I feel that had this film come as T2, I would have liked it better. But since it came after two Terminator films, the idea became old and boring. But one another thing that the film does well, is that it ties up the series in a neat manner. The ending seemed believable enough, and at least that is one good job done.

My Rating: 1.5/5
Rotten Tomatoes rating: 70%