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So I saw Kevin's post about deperation sequals and I hadn't seen this since it came out and it was lying on my shelf so I figured what the hell let me watch it again, and you know what... It wasn't half bad 
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Terminator 3
Director: Jonathan Mostow
Rating: 7.5/10
What does 7.5 mean, like why do I tack on that .5? Well the .5 makes all the difference, it represents that shade of gray in reviews, that defection from the world of black and white, ultimately it’s that purgatory of the movie world between good and great. Terminator 3 is a well-crafted action film that’s not afraid to emerge with it’s own energetic style so what’s the problem? As finely crafted as it was, it couldn’t escape the innate sequel problem, however it handles it much better than most sequels. The sequel problem is why make a sequel in the first place, in terms of story. Terminator 2 was plagued by the same problem since logically the future should have been safe at the end of Terminator when Reese is able to protect Sarah Connor. James Cameron even admits this, that the only reason he made Terminator 2 was that he now had the technology to visually do a lot of what he wanted to do in the first Terminator. Terminator 2 in many respects is simply a remake of Terminator 1, however it overcomes the sequel problem by adding new and interesting dynamics to the story. In Terminator 2 the plot’s change slightly by actually changing the future, Arnold is now the good guy, Linda Hamilton’s transformation, and of course the amazing special effects. Enough was added to in the justify a sequel and this has happened before most notably Evil Dead 2 and of course it’s failed horrible like Escape from L.A. So we get to Terminator 3, what have they exactly added? A female terminator, John Connor is grown up, a new philosophy that the future can‘t be changed, and we get to see how the end of the world happens. Well the first two are really superficial and the last two don’t come into effect till the last thirty minutes. Terminator 3 story-wise for the majority of it is more of the same from the last two, that is the biggest killer of the film.
However the film overcomes this major flaw by being so well made. A lot of the action scenes in my opinion are jaw-dropping, especially the car chase scene in the beginning. I also really liked the look of the film, I remember when I first saw the film I really missed the dark and gritty cinematography of James Cameron, the entire film seemed far too “bright” in terms of color. However on second viewing I’ve really come to appreciate it, the look of the film really articulates a very highly technological feeling. The explosions themselves are a joy to watch within themselves. My favorite scene however is when the T-100 is fighting the T-X, I love brutal it is but both robots show no emotion, it’s exactly what a Robot fight should be. Another flaw of the film is the T-X, Kristina Loken just doesn’t do it for me, she looks way too much like a Barbie doll, she just far too sexy, she doesn’t invoke fear in me. That statement in itself has to do with Loken because when I saw Linda Hamilton in T2, the thought of sex doesn’t cross your mind, I was just thinking this woman could kick my ass. Also the entire energy idea seems a bit too far fetched and simply the film-makers trying to out-do the last robot, however they put the idea to great use in a lot of scenes so I can over-look this. Also the robots at the end were ****ing awesome at the base, just seeing all these different killer robots, got the geek in me jumping. So special effects/action-wise I’d definitely say that this sequel is on par with the last two.
Now here’s where I think most people got hung up on which was the characterizations. James Cameron was a master of the action film because not only did he excite us with his action set pieces but he gave us characters that we cared about which gave his action an edge over the card-board cut-outs found in other action films. In that department is this film as strong as the other films? Definitely not however it ties back into the sequel problem, well okay Arnold is back but now what? The characters though are definitely not hollow and there are some really great moments in the film. For example in the mausoleum when John Connor is talking about how his mother died and how the T-100 was the closest thing he had to a father. I liked Claire Danes, it’s as if they combined the same character arc that Sarah Connor went through between Terminator 1 and 2 and put it in this one. By the end of the film you do feel satisfied in terms of character development because it comes all together. To see two characters from two completely different backgrounds, go through this together, then at the end they are now irreversibly bonded and ready to fight for the survival of the human race is great.
So in the end is Terminator 3 amazing? No it is not. Should it have been made? I’d say the last 30 minutes justify it’s existence in Terminator canon along with some decent characterizations and awesome action. However when this came out I heard that WB forced the director to cut out 15-20 minutes worth of scenes that were character development, if they released that version I could see this film rising to an 8. Anyway I enjoy this film, however if I had to rank the series it’d go exactly in the order they came out, Terminator 1 will always be my favorite.
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Terminator 3
Director: Jonathan Mostow
Rating: 7.5/10
What does 7.5 mean, like why do I tack on that .5? Well the .5 makes all the difference, it represents that shade of gray in reviews, that defection from the world of black and white, ultimately it’s that purgatory of the movie world between good and great. Terminator 3 is a well-crafted action film that’s not afraid to emerge with it’s own energetic style so what’s the problem? As finely crafted as it was, it couldn’t escape the innate sequel problem, however it handles it much better than most sequels. The sequel problem is why make a sequel in the first place, in terms of story. Terminator 2 was plagued by the same problem since logically the future should have been safe at the end of Terminator when Reese is able to protect Sarah Connor. James Cameron even admits this, that the only reason he made Terminator 2 was that he now had the technology to visually do a lot of what he wanted to do in the first Terminator. Terminator 2 in many respects is simply a remake of Terminator 1, however it overcomes the sequel problem by adding new and interesting dynamics to the story. In Terminator 2 the plot’s change slightly by actually changing the future, Arnold is now the good guy, Linda Hamilton’s transformation, and of course the amazing special effects. Enough was added to in the justify a sequel and this has happened before most notably Evil Dead 2 and of course it’s failed horrible like Escape from L.A. So we get to Terminator 3, what have they exactly added? A female terminator, John Connor is grown up, a new philosophy that the future can‘t be changed, and we get to see how the end of the world happens. Well the first two are really superficial and the last two don’t come into effect till the last thirty minutes. Terminator 3 story-wise for the majority of it is more of the same from the last two, that is the biggest killer of the film.
However the film overcomes this major flaw by being so well made. A lot of the action scenes in my opinion are jaw-dropping, especially the car chase scene in the beginning. I also really liked the look of the film, I remember when I first saw the film I really missed the dark and gritty cinematography of James Cameron, the entire film seemed far too “bright” in terms of color. However on second viewing I’ve really come to appreciate it, the look of the film really articulates a very highly technological feeling. The explosions themselves are a joy to watch within themselves. My favorite scene however is when the T-100 is fighting the T-X, I love brutal it is but both robots show no emotion, it’s exactly what a Robot fight should be. Another flaw of the film is the T-X, Kristina Loken just doesn’t do it for me, she looks way too much like a Barbie doll, she just far too sexy, she doesn’t invoke fear in me. That statement in itself has to do with Loken because when I saw Linda Hamilton in T2, the thought of sex doesn’t cross your mind, I was just thinking this woman could kick my ass. Also the entire energy idea seems a bit too far fetched and simply the film-makers trying to out-do the last robot, however they put the idea to great use in a lot of scenes so I can over-look this. Also the robots at the end were ****ing awesome at the base, just seeing all these different killer robots, got the geek in me jumping. So special effects/action-wise I’d definitely say that this sequel is on par with the last two.
Now here’s where I think most people got hung up on which was the characterizations. James Cameron was a master of the action film because not only did he excite us with his action set pieces but he gave us characters that we cared about which gave his action an edge over the card-board cut-outs found in other action films. In that department is this film as strong as the other films? Definitely not however it ties back into the sequel problem, well okay Arnold is back but now what? The characters though are definitely not hollow and there are some really great moments in the film. For example in the mausoleum when John Connor is talking about how his mother died and how the T-100 was the closest thing he had to a father. I liked Claire Danes, it’s as if they combined the same character arc that Sarah Connor went through between Terminator 1 and 2 and put it in this one. By the end of the film you do feel satisfied in terms of character development because it comes all together. To see two characters from two completely different backgrounds, go through this together, then at the end they are now irreversibly bonded and ready to fight for the survival of the human race is great.
So in the end is Terminator 3 amazing? No it is not. Should it have been made? I’d say the last 30 minutes justify it’s existence in Terminator canon along with some decent characterizations and awesome action. However when this came out I heard that WB forced the director to cut out 15-20 minutes worth of scenes that were character development, if they released that version I could see this film rising to an 8. Anyway I enjoy this film, however if I had to rank the series it’d go exactly in the order they came out, Terminator 1 will always be my favorite.
) Next Claire Danes was a great and very natural move, Linda Hamilton's charater had to die at some point as seen with T1, so I think it was great since it's very freudian almost that the motherly role was filled by Claire Danes. As for Arnold, I think he played it well since it was an amalgram of the first terminator and the second terminator.
