Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines

When Arnold Schwarzenegger entered politics, with his blustering grandstands and naivety, I chose to stop patronizing his films. I haven't seen one on more than ten years. It seems, though, that as his political ambition can rise no further, and as he's seen what it really takes to get things done - compromise - that he's evolved into something more humble. With that in mind, I took the opportunity to watch something I'd missed.

With the Terminator series created over two decades, it lacks the plot rails of a typical trilogy. Instead, each movie stands on those before it, but builds on its own. I found little to dislike in the third installment. The action picks up immediately, and the story takes little time to reflect on the past. Yet again John Conner fights back against the rise of the machines, and yet again only one unit is sent back to kill him, and conveniently one older model returns to save him. With his mother Sarah dead, John is instead joined with a forceful yet reluctant Kate, who is destined to share a fate similar to John's.

The action sequences are good, if rushed from start to finish. I only saw a few places were the special effects had aged beyond appreciation. I'm satisfied that the trilogy is complete. (Please, Arnold, don't pull a Stallone and make another one next decade.)

Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines
2003, 109 minutes, directed by Jonathan Mostow