THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
It was fair to be open minded for another Terminator film after the success of Judgment Day, but the hype was not exactly lived up to when another was released in 2003. The third film Rise of the Machines takes place in a fictional 2004, where two more terminators are sent from the future for their own missions. Another T-800 must protect the future Resistance leader John Connor. An advanced T-X is sent to assassinate him and future accomplices, including Katherine Brewster. Both terminators encounter Connor and Brewster, but the T-800 is able to protect them. They visit a mausoleum where the now deceased Sarah Connor is buried. Instead, they find weapons in the casket incase Judgment Day happened. The T-800 reveals that the nuclear attack was only delayed and it will happen at 6:18pm. John orders it to take him and Kate to her father, U.S. Air Force General Robert Brewster (David Andrews), who is also supervising development for Skynet. Before they arrive, it also revealed that John dies in 2032 by its protector and Kate, who is his wife in the future, reprogrammed it to save him. Upon arrival at CRS headquarters, Skynet has become a virus taking over CRS and the T-X shoots Robert, before the trio could save him. The T-800 destroys a few weaponized machines but it is reprogrammed by the T-X to attack John, after fighting it. It attacks him but Connor is able to convince it to take control, shutting itself down. He and Kate go to the fallout shelter in Crystal Peak, but the T-X catches up. When the rebooted T-800 arrives in time to save them both, it sacrifices itself by using one of its hydrogen fuel cells, that also kills its foe. The find ends at the shelter, as radio transmissions come in and Connor tentatively takes command, accepting that Judgment Day has happened. When watching this film in 2003, I recall enjoying myself as this sequel has a fair amount of action sequences, like the crane chase being the best of the bunch. The problem with this sequel is that Jonathan Mostow was unable to bring the same heart that the first two had. The pacing is going too fast that we don't have time to connect with these characters, making it a mixed bag when it shouldn’t be. Arnold Schwarzenegger tries to hit the same marks from before, but they don't pay off. I do admit that Kristanna Loken can arguably be the highlight of the T-X. Every moment she has a glare, she's expressing that looks can be deceiving. She is almost close to the same amount of intimidation that the T-1000 showed in Judgment Day, but not close enough. Nick Stahl has zero resemblance nor does he have the same energy Edward Furlong when it came to playing John Connor. I don't understand why they couldn't bring Furlong back because he could've saved the movie. I want to be happy that we finally get to see John become the leader he's supposed to be, but it's done in such a lazy way. He clearly isn't as experienced as his mother was training him to be, so it makes the ending less believable. Also, Stahl doesn't have any chemistry with Claire Danes. She is clearly trying too hard with Kate Brewster. It's hard to believe that they become married in the future, but it's one of those things you have to roll with. I want to love this film but again, the pacing affects the story so much that there were too many moments I couldn’t stand. First off, I find it confusing how the T-X appears in the middle of LA and the city is so empty that no one but one woman notices it. LA is a busy city and I don’t understand why it isn’t depicted as such in action movies like this. I also can’t believe that Skynet became a reality when all the evidence from the first two films have been destroyed? Knowing how those things were essential, there should be a better explanation on how it was still done this time. I know this film basically summarizes how some futures are bound to happen, but it doesn’t clear being specific about it in the process. I want to laugh on how Kate didn’t add security measures after the animal hospital’s first break in, but it’s the fact that John goes back to it when he should’ve gone elsewhere to do this because he messes up so badly on keeping his identity a secret. I would let it slide if he was still a kid, but he’s a grown man and he should’ve known better if he was gonna do what he did. It only gets dumber for him to first think that the T-800 was gonna kill him. Considering that one protected him before, he should’ve been giddy to see the last thing to resemble his father figure. Because of the resemblance, he think it’s the same one, resulting in me cringing so badly because I was in shock on how dumb this protagonist became. The only mistake that the T-800 makes is opening the back after stealing snacks at the gas station. It and John knew Kate would try to break out, so this was a ridiculous way for the tension to rise. If they wanted to avoid that, the terminator should’ve just given the snacks to John and he should’ve warned it’s protector to not open the back. I want to appreciate the twist that Katie sent the T-800, but why didn’t she allow it to take orders from John? If we’re supposed to believe that she loves him and he is the one to lead the human resistance, than that should’ve been allowed. The biggest flaw that the T-X has was that it identified humans off of blood taste and not physical appearance. I mean it’s easier if you figure it out from the latter. And lastly, the biggest disappointment from this film is how they wrote off Sarah Connor. If you're gonna kill off a great character like her, it shouldn't ever be an offscreen moment. Overall, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines is a sequel that can be passing to enjoy, but has its fair share of problems that make it impossible to be better than the first two films. If you can ignore these flaws, than you'll likely enjoy what comes from this film.
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