‘Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines’ just as entertaining as predecessors By CRAIG OUTHIER
Get Out
July 5, 2003
You knew it was only a matter of time before the T-101 cybernetic organism euphemistically known as the Terminator once again donned black biker leather in the defense of human liberty.
After all, there are but two governing forces in this country: apocalyptic dread and big box office. The Terminator is uniquely suited to produce both.
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines is a flat-out monster of an action movie, with meaty, wantonly destructive car chase scenes, powerfully identifiable characters and taut, confident direction from Jonathan Mostow (U-571), filling in for series creator James Cameron, whos too busy romancing the Titanic wreckage to spend quality time with his other brainchild. No matter. Mostows movie is arguably as entertaining as the first two Terminators, featuring a still-charismatic, still-ripped Arnold Schwarzenegger in the role he does best.
More on Californias swollen future governor later. There are some new faces this time around, including bona fide thespian Nick Stahl (In the Bedroom) as John Connor, the prophesied savior of humanity played by Edward Furlong in Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991). Now a 22-year-old vagabond with a nasty horse tranquilizer habit, John has seen Judgment Day predicted in the previous movies as Aug. 29, 1997 come and go without the promised nuclear war between humanity and Skynet, the automated computer defense system that started it all. Still, John is uneasy. He lives off the grid, with no telephone, credit cards or permanent address, just in case some cybernetic killing machine from the future should appear at his doorstep.
As it turns out, Johns fears are spot-on, manifested in the alluring form of a fair-haired, deliciously proportioned terminatrix with liquid metal skin that can assume the appearance of any person it chooses. Played with coy, seductive reserve by little-known TV actress Kristanna Loken (Law and Order), the T-X also has the nifty ability to enslave any machine it wants, turning a fleet of unmanned cop cruisers, for instance, into remotecontrolled minions of death. She, it whatever is also very much a vamp, enhancing her bust size to distract potentially troublesome men and taking brief glances in the mirror in the middle of fights to check out her makeup. Dont worry, girlfriend its perfect.
Unable to locate John, the T-X targets a group of unfortunate young people in the Southern California area who will ultimately serve as his war lieutenants. Eventually, it comes looking for unsuspecting veterinarian Kate Brewster, played by the largely forgotten Claire Danes (William Shakespeares Romeo + Juliet). This is Danes best role in many a moon.
Though she cures kittens for a living, Kate knows how to handle herself in a fight, probably due to the fact that her father (David Andrews) is a flinty Air Force general. Hes the same general, in fact, who designed the waylaid but still operational Skynet, due to go online in mere hours to defeat a computer virus that has crippled the U.S. war machine. Little does he know, Skynet is ambitious, and Judgment Day is nigh.
Enter the T-101 (Schwarzenegger), sent back in time by the human resistance to save John and Kate from the T-X. Somewhat too conveniently, he finds them both cowering from the T-X at Kates clinic, where John was trying to score some junk. It seems that John and Kate were also once junior high sweethearts and were fated to be together, to fight robots together, an idea that backpedals on the themes of selfdetermination in the earlier installments.
In any case, Schwarzenegger and the Terminator (its hard to tell where one stops and the other starts) are radical fun to behold, at one point precariously hanging off a crane arm during a highspeed chase sequence that must have destroyed a fair amount of Los Angeles real estate. There are also pleasing touches of Terminator humor, from his penchant for co-opting catchphrases (Talk to da hand!) to his never-ending quest for a quality pair of sunglasses.
As always, the quality of the gravitas at least for a popcorn movie is exceptional. In John and Kate, we find the same love-in-Armageddon conceit that made Danny Boyles recent zombie spectacular 28 Days Later such a surprisingly powerful experience. When John, marveling at Kates proficiency with a machine gun, tells her that she reminds him of his dead mother, its amusing, but kind of sweet and sad, too. Stahl performs on a level that makes you feel for this kid, and the specterridden, chaotic life hes endured.
As such, theres no shame in looking forward to another sequel, which the surprising, surreal finale clearly alludes to. Schwarzenegger might not be back, but if Mostow, Danes and Stahl are, humanity should have nothing to worry about.
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines
Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Nick Stahl, Claire Danes, Kristanna Loken Playing: Now playing throughout the Valley Rating: R (strong sci-fi violence and action, profanity, brief nudity) Running time: 1 hour, 49 minutes Grade: A-
