If there is one actor that has been screaming out for a hit movie lately it’s good old Arnie. Ever since Terminator 2 in 1991 Arnold has stumbled from one mediocre movie to another. True Lies stands alone as his only above average film since the last time he played the Terminator. In-fact it might be safe to say that he was one, maybe two flops away from joining the likes of Stallone, Van Damme and Seagal on direct-to-video row.

What better way to revive a flagging career than to dig up your most famous character for another movie (Stallone may also be thinking along these lines with rumours abounding in regards to Rambo 4 or Rocky 6)? A cynical attempt to resurrect a career it may be, but Terminator 3 also turns out to be a bloody good film and a respectable entry into the Terminator franchise.

The Terminator was James Cameron’s creation, he wrote and directed the first two movies and both are excellent (T1 just outdoing T2 in my book). Outside of the characters he created, Cameron has zero involvement in this project, but contrary to the naysayers that surrounded this project pre-release it doesn’t sound the death knell of the movie. Yes, Cameron is an amazing director with an almost unparalleled attention for detail and an incredible eye for action. However his shoes have been admirably filled by Jonathan Mostow.

Before this film Mostow was best known for Breakdown and U-571. If both films had anything special about them it was the great sense of tension and dread that Mostow built. But, aside from the odd moment here and there both films can hardly be called action packed. T3 on the other hand is oozing action, and quality action at that. Hats off then to Mostow for pulling of some truly amazing action sequences.

Stand out is the dizzying, high speed chase scene which sees the T-X driving a huge mobile crane whilst she controls a fleet of emergency vehicles (The ability to control other machines being one of her powers) against our heroes in a very flimsy looking veterinarian van. The sheer destruction in this scene is amazing as the crane veers of to either side destroying road side buildings and tearing down telephone poles. For me this scene beats the hell out of the chase scene in The Matrix Reloaded. Mostow uses practical effects for the most part and it works brilliantly.

This is a common part of T3, practical ahead of CGI. Mostow uses mostly practical effects for his action scenes and it gives them a much more realistic look and feel. Yes, he does use CGI, but it is used to compliment and enhance the action, not be the action, a fault that many modern films are guilty off. It’s a pretty ironic situation really given how much T2 was responsible for pioneering CGI techniques.

See also the gloriously brutal T-X vs. T-101 battle near the films end. Because we are dealing with two ultra strong robots we get them smashing each other through walls, through urinals (it takes place partially in a bathroom) and throwing each other about. Perhaps the best use of CGI is late in the film when the T-101’s endoskeleton is starting to become exposed. We get to see this far more graphically now thanks to the advancement of CG effects.

Arnie himself looks pretty good for his 50 odd years. He barely looks any older than he did for T2, maybe some CGI was used to enhance him? ;) At any rate The Terminator is his most famous character and here he slips into the role like he’s never been away. Whilst Arnie may not be the best actor on the planet few can doubt that the man has buckets of charisma and amazing screen presence. He commands your attention when he’s on screen.

The one complaint I had regarding the T-101 in this film is that at times he is in danger of becoming a parody off the character. In T2 there was some humour and most of it worked (the added stuff in the Special Edition not withstanding), in T3 there is more comedy and it all gets the laughs, but as I said it veers dangerously close at times of becoming a parody. The Terminator in Elton John shades, comedy or parody? You decide….

Elsewhere Nick Stahl takes over the John Conner role from Edward Furlong. Furlong wasn’t re-hired because of ongoing drug problems and Stahl steps in nicely to fill his shoes. He looks scarily like Dr Bashir from Deep Space Nine at times, but his jittery, down and out approach mostly works and you can see him growing as a leader as the film moves on. Opposite him you have Clare Danes who occupies a role which is like a mix of Sarah Conner from T1 and T2. I’m not Danes’ biggest fan but she does okay here.

Taking on the role played by Arnie in T1 and Robert Patrick in T2 is Kristanna Loken as the ultra dangerous Terminatrix. When I first heard the evil terminator was going to be female I thought it was a bit gimmicky, but it actually works out very well. Loken plays it all with a poker face and even though she is hot as hell she has a steely cold look in her eye that hints she is more dangerous than her tight leather outfit suggests.

In-fact she is responsible for some downright despicable and graphic moments. Moments that made me question the BBFC’s decision to give T3 a 12A rating, essentially meaning that anybody of any age can see this film. I would be uncomfortable letting very young children see this film as I would think that it could be fairly disturbing for them.

One big, huge problem that I had with the film is the score. It is practically non existent at times, just melting into the background. It was a huge mistake on the filmmaker’s part not to use Brad Fiedel for this film as one of the most recognisable things about T1 and T2 was the ‘dun-dun-d-dun-dun’ thumping score. Also when compared to the other two films T3 is lacking a bit in the cinematography department. The other two were very stylish looking films using coloured filters and gloomy lighting nicely, whereas in T3 the film has a very clean and sterile look.

I guess you could also say that the films story is a bit of a retread of the other two. However thanks to some ingenious writing this is actually explained and becomes integral to the films plot. “No fate, but what you make” is a phrase that was used a lot in the first two films and T3 takes that ball, runs with it and turns things around in a very intriguing way.

As the film moves on it’s very cool as a fan of the first two films to watch events unfold that we were told about all those years ago. It’s also nice to see Dr. Silberman show up again, although his cameo does feel a little forced. The ending is very good, it’s incredibly downbeat, but it leaves the viewer with a glimmer of hope. Hope that could easily be expanded into a sequel.