After “Terminator 2,” they were able to prevent Judgment Day but John still feels uncertain to his future. Now, a brand new sleek, tough, and advanced killing machine known as T-X has landed on Earth in the form of a seductive woman and is out to kill twenty people who will help with the rebellion. The Terminator lands on Earth as well and must protect John and a new character Kate Brewster a veterinarian who will play a role in the war. Now, they must travel to Skynet and prevent the machines from rising while they clash with T-X. Can they stop the war? Or is it all inevitable?
Nick Stahl takes on the role for Edward Furlong as John Connor and we don’t miss Furlong. Nick Stahl is great and helps bring a lot of humility and rage to the character. I’m a fan of Stahl’s work and applauded he taking on the role. Claire Danes is a new character and is a good addition mostly serving as a replacement to the absence of Sarah Connor/Linda Hamilton. She’s hilarious and pretty ballsy throughout the movie as she attempts to discover the battle that lies ahead. Schwarzenegger is in rare form in this movie buffing up well and becoming the stone cold warrior once again like he never lost it. He’s a great character and I loved to watch him fight the T-X even though he knew he was outmatched.
Kristanna Loken is a lot of fun to look at and looks hot in her burgundy suit that she wears throughout the film. She’s got the stone cold alluring look down well and packed a punch with her cannons and flame throwers. Her best feature is her ability to control machines through her circuitry which enabled her to become sneaky and slimy throughout the entire movie. Jonathan Mostow is able to breathe new life into the story with the sleek visuals and exciting chase sequences and fight scenes. The opening sequence with the terminator’s on the battlefield left me with my jaw hanging down. The story itself is pretty paper thin but is still entertaining as the events all lead up to the war. The ending leaves a large door open to a sequel which will no doubt be big.
All things considered, “T3” lacks what the first two Terminator movies had: vision. James Cameron was able to instill his sleek and dark vision within the complex story-telling but Mostow doesn’t pull it off. The movie is lighter and sleeker than I would have liked it to be. It rarely focuses on the machine war yet focuses on the entire story at hand which is paper thin: hot robot chase kids, male robot protect kids, robots fight, save world. The Terminator at times is too comical disposing of his usually cool costume search into a campy romp which made the terminator less intimidating a presence. This was an exciting and fun popcorn flick that, despite a lot of flaws, ultimately left me satisfied and will most likely carry me into the theatres with it’s ending that left the door open for another sequel.