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T3 - Rise of the Machines

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Loki:
It’s been quite a few years since the events of T2. John Connor (Nick Stahl) is living “off the grid” and on his own. As we find out later, his mother Sarah died (conveniently) and he has since been unsure of the future of mankind and of himself. A motorcycle accident leads him to a local vet clinic where he tries to snag some pills. At the same time, Kate Brewster (Claire Danes), vet and former high school classmate of John’s, runs into him and traps him. Too bad, because a new Terminator, the T-X (Kristanna Loken) is on her way to the clinic to complete her mission. And luckily for John and Kate, a terminator that is the same make as the one from T2 (Arnold, of course), has been sent back to protect them. Yes, not him, them.

T3 is equal parts of its predecessors. It includes the high-speed chases and special effects of T2 but the story is injected with bits and pieces of plot and character points from the original. A smart move, making sure this film feels like a Terminator movie even if Mostow screws it up.


I was quite disappointed about T3, it has its dose of fun and action but nothing that renew the genre. To me, it looks like a long 90mn chase. The car chase, or should I say truck chase, in T3 rivals, if not exceeds (dare I say) its predecessor. And in a day and age where special effects are used simply because they can be, it makes that scene all the more impressive. A reminder back to the “golden days” of the 80’s–early 90’s blockbuster.

Sacrificed in all of this is meaning, metaphor and subplot development. Understandably, it would have been nice to see something a little deeper, or see more side stories develop, but at the end of the day it’s a sacrifice you can live with. Still, I would like to know more about the events in the future that are alluded to and why we only get bits and pieces of information. (Saving for the next film?)

Arnold is ingrained to this character so much that you welcome every quip and every bulky action sequence with open arms. Say what you will about the star of Collatoral Damage and The 6th Day, but when he’s in the right role, he’s unstoppably charming.

Kudos to Nick Stahl and Claire Danes, they’re both more than worthy of carrying the baton passed to them. Kristanna Loken does a great job as well, not that it was all that hard to look menacingly hot and not speak a lot. She does exactly what Robert Patrick does in T2 and although she is far from as cool as he was, she holds her own.


T3 is not the best film in the franchise, in fact its probably the worse. However, it’s a highly satisfying popcorn movie that exceeded expectations. As summer movies go these days, that’s pretty impressive. --

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