Movie Review--Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines

"The future has not been written.  There is no fate but what we make for ourselves.  I wish I could believe that."

--John Connor, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines

As an action movie, Terminator 3 has moments of spectacle.  Some of the later scenes with prototype Skynet machines that preceded Terminators capitalize on at least some of their potential.  As a drama built around iconic characters, it suffers from a glaring absence of James Cameron's direct influence.  The optimism and genuine philosophical and storytelling depth of Terminator 2 are replaced with unhelpful comedic attempts and underwritten characters in this simplistic chase story.  2019's Dark Fate, contrary to what its abysmal financial earnings and controversial reputation might suggest, is a very well-made movie that surpasses the previous R-rated movie in every way.

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Production Values

The special effects of Terminator 3 actually hold up fairly well compared to plenty of other films from the early 2000s, both with regards to CGI and practical effects.  The endoskeleton and arm-based weapon of the T-X in particular do not look terrible even by modern standards of CGI!  Other Skynet machines, including smaller models of the Hunter-Killer drones seen in the futuristic warfare of other Terminator films, can look slightly more artificial.  The T-101 played by Arnold Schwarzenegger would naturally have the easiest time getting portrayed with practical effects, and this is fitting, for Arnold's Terminator is less personable than the model he played in Terminator 2 ever was.  His character is reduced to more of a comedic character without the previous depth both in writing and presentation.  The dialogue even suffers in other cases as well.

With John Connor, it does not help that the performance is so different from before.  Edward Furlong's younger John Connor has a stronger onscreen personality in Terminator 2 than Nick Stahl ever does in Terminator 3.  The characterization of John Connor has changed--not that it is bad or even unrealistic for some people in entertainment to undergo very noticeable changes--in a way that does not build off of the previous portrayal very organically given the dialogue.  Kristanna Loken has few lines as the T-X, which is perhaps for the best, given how Arnold's actions and lines are used for humor more than before.  Her "Terminatrix" prefers to use silence and force to accomplish its goals.  It is actually Claire Danes as John Connor's future wife Katherine Brewster that probably gives the strongest acting efforts of the entire cast.  Katherine might not be a figure entrenched in former Terminator lore, but Claire at least shows more emotion than Nick.

Story

Some spoilers are below.

John Connor wanders from one location and job to another carrying memories of how his mother helped stop Judgment Day, the day of a genocidal machine rebellion against humanity.  A new Terminator, possessing the shapeshifting abilities of the antagonist from Terminator 2 and new features alike, is nonetheless sent to kill him and several other future resistance members.  Meanwhile, a computer virus has taken over part of a military network, the response to which involves a plan to have a separate program eliminate the virus.  It is this very attempted solution that births Skynet, but a Terminator is also sent to save John's life yet again, ensuring he survives the initial missile launches.

Intellectual Content

Rise of the Machines is the first Terminator film to actually show Skynet take power over humanity, rather than only having its future activities talked about.  Because of this, and because of the way in which Skynet triggers Judgment Day, the possible dangers of artificial intelligence are more directly portrayed.  Skynet is given control of all American government computer systems in order to purge a major computer virus that is later said to be part of Skynet itself.  This scenario is logically possible, as it contains no conceptual contradiction, but there is such an exaggerated level of concern over artificial intelligence in the current age that it needs to be emphasized that there is no such thing as an "inevitable" uprising of machines against humans.  The internet has come a long way since the year in which Terminator 3 is set, and artificial intelligence of the kind seen in Terminator units is not mainstream at all.  Even if it was, it would not follow that even a truly conscious AI will despise humans or lash out at them.

Conclusion

Terminator 3 could have been far worse than it turned out, but it is at most a heavily diluted example of what the series is capable of.  It even shares some plot and thematic similarities to Dark Fate, the sequel that actually ignored Rise of the Machines, Salvation, and Genysis, and it still manages to squander them.  Both feature antagonists that amount to modified versions of the hostile Terminator from the second film.  Both emphasize the supposed inevitability of Judgment Day.  A sort of fatalism (or at least seeming fatalism) hangs over the events in both, but Dark Fate is clearly the superior script, action film, and philosophical mouthpiece.  Terminator 3 simply lacks the sophistication and nuanced characterization of the best the franchise has to offer.

Content:

 1.  Violence:  Most of the fighting is bloodless, but several scenes show intense physical brawls, and some blood is shown at times.  The T-101 (Arnold's Terminator) cuts its torso open onscreen in one scene, peeling away its artificial skin to remove a damaged power cell.

 2.  Profanity:  "Shit," "fuck," "damn," and "bitch are used.

 3.  Nudity:  The Terminator sent to kill John Connor once again is shown naked from behind when it first arrives in the past.  Likewise, the Terminator sent to protect him also is shown naked, this time from a crouched profile perspective.  This second android is later seen from behind before it obtains clothing.

 4.  Sexuality:  The man Arnold's Terminator takes clothes from is a stripper performing at a bar.  While the context is explicitly sexual, the stripper and his crowd of eager, admiring women are shown clothed.