Terminator 3 2003
Since I had the first two of this series on DVD I went ahead and bought the third on DVD even though I didn’t see it when it first came out. I heard mixed reviews on this when it was a the theaters. For a movie that took ten years to put together, I have to admit that it is a bit of let down, but it had a lot to live up to. If you don’t compare it to its predecessors, this really is a pretty good movie.
Arnold returns to his greatest role and is in perfect form. Almost every line he says is funny, but not necessarily the gimmicky kind of line he likes best (like “stick around” when he stabs some guy to a tree in Predator). Here he is very dead pan and it works well for him.
The performances are generally good. Arnold obviously was born for this. The new Terminatrix is much like a female version of the liquid steel guy from T2 with a few new tricks up her sleeves (literally). She’s so cute it’s kind of hard to be scared of her, but it works that way. She plays a machine with the appropriate depth of emotion. Sarah Connor is written out of the series awkwardly leaving a gaping hole compared to the first two. Nick Stahl and Claire Danes are good as the two young human leads. Claire Danes plays it smart and surprisingly tough but also vulnerable when the plot calls for it. John Connor is a little dumber than the smarmy kid in T2. I would have liked to have seen him develop some leadership skills in this movie but he’s essentially just an action hero instead.
Because much of what is in this movie was already laid out in the first two movies, exposition is kept to a minimum. But my gripe with the movie is that is essentially just an extended chase scene, lacking a lot of the intelligence and plot development that kept you interested in the first two. I don’t want to give away the ending, but you don’t have the same kind of ending as in the first two when the Terminator keeps coming back over and over (though those two would be hard to top and I respect the decision not to try). The biggest action sequences are in the beginning and middle of the film, not the ending. And that ending . . . well, it was disappointing though it sure opens the door for any number of sequels.
Anyway, I’ll give this a B. Required watching if you liked the first two, but keep your expectations low.
Owned on: Blu-ray, Digital