Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines Review
by Shannon Patrick Sullivan (shannon AT morgan DOT ucs DOT mun DOT ca)July 9th, 2003
TERMINATOR 3: RISE OF THE MACHINES (2003) / ** 1/2
Directed by Jonathan Mostow. Screenplay by John Brancato and Michael Ferris, from a story by Brancato, Ferris and Tedi Sarafian, based on characters created by James Cameron and Gale Anne Hurd. Starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Nick Stahl, Claire Danes. Running time: 109 minutes. Rated AA for violent scenes by the MFCB. Reviewed on July 8th, 2003.
By SHANNON PATRICK SULLIVAN
Synopsis: A decade after he thought he had averted a war between man and machine, John Connor (Stahl) finds himself under attack from another Terminator from the future, the T-X (Kristanna Loken). Once again protected by a familiar-looking android (Schwarzenegger), Connor learns that he didn't stop the war, but merely delayed it. Finding a reluctant ally in young veterinarian Kate Brewster (Danes), John must once again stop the computer Skynet from attaining sentience and annihilating mankind in a nuclear war.
Review: "Terminator 2" was one of the best science-fiction films of the 1990s: exciting and chock-full of cutting-edge effects, yet boasting a smart plot, interesting characters, and rich imagery. Twelve years later, along comes "Terminator 3". And like its star, Schwarzenegger, T3 is a tired shadow of what came before, settling for mediocrity where once we would have expected more. The loss of key contributors weighs heavily. Mostow is only partly effective as James Cameron's successor: he does good work with the action scenes, but where is the symbolism and resonance that made T2 so effective? Danes is a fine actress, but she's given no material to work with. Kate is clearly designed to evoke the spirit of Linda Hamilton's Sarah Connor, but all she really does is remind us of Sarah's absence. Likewise, Stahl's vanilla performance as John Connor pales in comparison to Edward Furlong's gritty T2 version. Even Schwarzenegger seems to be doing little more than collecting a paycheque, lacking either the menace of first T100 or the pathos of the second. Basically, "Terminator 3" comes across as a dumbed-down version of its predecessors. It retains the popcorn elements -- the thrilling chase scenes and eye-popping pyrotechnics -- but utterly fails to move us, to make us care about the characters and the dark, fragile world in which they live.
Copyright © 2003 Shannon Patrick Sullivan.
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