TERMINATOR 3: RISE OF THE MACHINES
Released: July 2, 2003
When the man who created, wrote, produced and directed the first two installments of this series opts not to touch "Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines" with a ten foot pole, you know something's up. Not even Linda Hamilton or Edward Furlong are returning to the third part of what hopefully is just a trilogy. James Cameron, the director of parts 1 and 2 made a movie that had action as a required part of the story. "U-571" director Jonathan Mostow is the hack hemling this third installment and he has created a movie that is all action that requires little to no story to forward it. Gone are the deeper subtexts of parts 1 and 2. What you get is an aging Arnold Schwarzenegger looking for a hit after many duds. John Connor (Nick Stahl) is now in his early 20's, and a female terminator, called T-X or Terminatrix (Kristanna Loken), is after him . Another T-800 (Schwarzenegger) is sent back through time to protect John once again on the verge of the rise of the machines. Claire Danes somehow ended up in this muddled and forgettable CGI demo reel, which is sad. Just like David Fincher ruined the James Cameron created world of "Aliens", so to has director Mostow with his sequel to Cameron's far superior "Terminator 2: Judgment Day" (1991). As bad as it is forgettable, "Rise Of The Machines" is best avoided if you enjoyed the first two movies at all.
109 Minutes
C2 Pictures/Warner Bros.