Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines

Okay, a couple of things. First, that was not great. I didn't respond to it. These kinds of movies aren't really my jam. I feel like the high quality of the second one was sort of an outlier for me.

That being said, this movie does not deserve a tenth of the crap it is given. Why? Because as mediocre as it is, it's still way better than the first movie. As long as that's true, I don't need to hear how long in the tooth Arnie is getting. I can't pretend the bleak ending did anything but annoy me. But the movie was far more interesting, and yes, more competently put together than the first.

I don't like the notion that this movie is suggesting the future can't be changed. Just the fact that they DID put off Judgment Day means it can be. The fatalism of this movie was in stark contrast to the optimism of the second. Maybe that's why it was poorly received. Maybe the dark themes resonated less with audiences for that reason. But even so, the film's quality is not as low as people say it is.

Yes, the "Talk to the hand" callback bit is outright painful, but when it's introduced by him grabbing the male stripper's hand and repeating the command into it it's actually funny, as are the Elton John glasses he tries on and rejects (and smashes for good measure). The idea that this Terminator was the one who killed a future version of John Connor is interesting too. It really does make you worry about his loyalties after his programming has been corrupted.

And yes, "I'm back," and "You've just been terminated" are the franchise at its hoariest. And I still maintain it's better than the first film.

Silberman's "surprise" cameo amounted to a big bucket of nothing. They really couldn't think of anything to do with him for this outing.

This should be much worse than it is considering people disliked it so much. It has no right being better than the first film for that reason. But it actually is. **1/2.