"She'll be back..."
Judgment Day. The war against the machines begins. But at least we still got these reviews:
Movie: Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines
Directed by Jonathan Mostow
Release date 2003
Genre Action/Science-fiction
Country USA
Rise of the Machines is the third installment in the Terminator franchise.
James Cameron wanted to make T-3 several times during the 90s, but he ended up being too busy for it. He announced it many times despite that.
A first script was pitched by Tedi Sarafian which the final movie still used as basis.
But the studios wanted to press onward and make another one either way. And by the 2000s, it was time to move on despite Cameron's absence.
Arnold Schwarzenegger wasn't sure if he wanted to come back without the series creator, but James Cameron told him it was best to continue without him, the series was as much Cameron's as Schwarzenegger's. In the end, he was the one to even finance the Crane Truck scene so it wouldn't be cut down!
This time the movie was directed by Jonathan Mostow, director of the thriller Breakdown and the cult classic U-571.
If Terminator 2 was all about the upcoming robotic threat, this one is focused around the AI uprising.
Nine years have passed since the last time a Terminator was after the Connors.
Sarah Connor has died without seeing any actual new threat from Skynet come to pass.
Judgment Day never happened on August 29, 1997.
The prophecy turned out to be wrong. But John Connor is still living outside the grid in any case.
He is now currently hiding in Los Angeles.
But the war against Skynet might end up a reality. Since the disbandment of Cyberdyne Systems in 1995, the military took over the program.
That is when Skynet sends another machine into the past. A new variation of the T-1000 from the second film, a T-X. Send back to kill as many future resistance leaders as possible before J-Day's modified new date. As well as John Connor's future wife Kate Brewster. Since they failed killing the Connors in the past and his whereabouts are unknown at the time, that will do for now.
Hopefully, the resistance sends a reprogrammed T-850 model 101 to protect him.
Terminator 3 is a pretty standard sequel for such an incredible film that was T-2.
Actually most of the film copies T-2's structure down to the rhythm and sequences. There's a new truck chase, both Terminators chase John at the beginning, reunite him with the female lead and get into a final epic confrontation in a factory-like building at the end.
Arnold Schwarzenegger is back. You wouldn't believe he aged a bit since Terminator 2!
The rest of the main cast is rounded up by Nick Stahl who does a nice job of taking the calmer John Connor from the end of T-2 and taking him into a more mature and joyless adult John. Claire Danes portrays the new character Kate Brewster. I'm glad they didn't give those two a cliché love story, it actually happens progressively and quite naturally. And Kristanna Loken gets to kicks Terminator ass (pun intended...!) as the all-new T-X. She plays her role pretty similarly to Robert Patrick's in part 2.
Linda Hamilton was actually supposed to be in the film, but she turned down to reprise her role of Sarah Connor. It only means they had to tweaken the plot a little to have her dead prior to the story rather than in the film.
Rise of the Machines is actually not that bad. Only, it feels like James Cameron-light, I'd say similarly how Jurassic Park 3 felt like lighter missing Spielberg behind it.
The new Terminatrix is a fun idea. She supposedly a Terminator's Terminator. I actually like the way she still retains an endoskeleton beneath the liquid metal "mimetic polyalloy". She and the rest of the machines were designed by Stan Winston Studios.
The movie almost contained one equally random hilarious and epic deleted scene in which we'd see how the T-800 Terminators were based on a certain Chief Master Sergeant William Candy. It featured Arnold as this Sergeant Candy with a voice dubbed over by Samuel L. Jackson! Then a scientist with Schwarzenegger's voice suggesting a voice change for the machines.
It doesn't make any sense for the canon of the series (making "Terminator" robots this early before J-Day?!), but I still adore it!
As far as Time Travel goes, this movie features a new time theory as it's usual in this franchise. If the first one presented a perfect Time Loop and the second one presented a Paradox in which you could change history. Terminator 3 shows that you can only delay some events solidifed in time (a notion fans of Booster Gold might be familiar with!).
The music is composed by Marco Beltrami this time, altough the classic Terminator theme still appears. But honestly, I really missed Brad Fiedel on the score. Beltrami's almost too generic I'd say.
Overall, it's a great entertaining "popcorn" blockbuster.
It's probably not as surprising as the first two, but not quite the weakest entry either.
It's not as violent as the original, and not as epic as T-2. But there's still some spectacular scenes and plenty of robots fighting and damages all around in this one.
Fans tend to unjustly give it a harsher look, but I find T-3 pretty enjoyable for what it is.
The real problem in my eyes is that Rise of the Machines tries too much, they try to top every possible scene from Terminar 2 in one way or another. In no way does it make it a bad movie, it's pretty good as far as sequels usually go, but less memorable perhaps.
The ending is absolutely fantastic though.
I give it:
2 / 3 UFOs!
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