Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines Review

by Susan Granger (ssg722 AT aol DOT com)
July 1st, 2003
Susan Granger's review of "T3: Rise of the Machines" (Warner Bros.)
    As this super summer popcorn picture begins, future revolutionary John Connor (Nick Stahl) has been in hiding in the dark shadows of his own paranoid nightmares for more than a decade. Then his unsuspecting girl-friend (Claire Danes) is suddenly tracked down by a technologically superior killing machine, the relentless T-X, that has morphed into female form (Kristanna Loken). Following close behind is a bare, buff replicant of the now-obsolete Terminator (Arnold Schwarzeneggar), Connor's vigilant protector, intoning: "John Connor, it is time." Within three hours, Skynet's sophisticated digital defense network will become self-aware and wage war on mankind. The previously postponed Judgment Day is now inevitable, but can it be survived?
    Writers John Brancato and Michael Ferris play off the contemporary fear that computers will dominate civilization, as in "The Matrix." And director Jonathan Mostow ("Breakdown," "U-571") deftly rises to the challenge of following James Cameron, cleverly casting serious Nick Stahl and sympathetic Claire Danes, whose opening line is "I hate machines!" But aside from her evoking subtle aspects of Sarah (Linda Hamilton) from the original film, there's not much character development. Arnold's acting? He's a robot. But Kristanna Loken (TV's "Philly") is sensational as his nemesis: the Cybernetic Queen of Mean. The imaginative stunts are awesome - from Arnold's swinging off a monster crane driven by T-X to the climactic showdown - with special-effects kudos to Oscar-winning make-up and animatronics wizard Stan Winston. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, "T3: Rise of the Machines" is a spectacular 7, packing more fireworks than the Fourth of July. Adrenaline addicts are gonna love the fast-paced action.

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