Plot
In 2003, John Connor has been living off the grid for years.
A new Terminator, a female build called the Terminatirx (or TX) – has been sent back through time in order to eliminate John Connor’s Lieutenants in his future war… including his future wife Kathryn Brewster.
A new T-101 has also been sent back in order to stop the TX, and to get John and Kathryn to safety – as Judgement day is set to occur within days… and nothing can stop it from starting!
Direction
Directed by Jonathan Mostow, who I have previously reviewed his Breakdown and U-571.
There are some big ups in some of the practical effects the film went with, primarily the crane chase sequence. The “indestructible” fights between TX and T-101 are good, but T2 was better.
It also tries to add moments of ‘comedy’ when T-101 first gets his costume, and ‘of the time’ dialogue is used (talk to the hand) and then Elton’s sunglasses…
Cast
Arnold Schwarzenegger returns of course as T-101. He really did the ‘robotic’ performance well, but I missed the ‘heart’ that his Terminator had in #2. He still had it at 55 years of age.
Nick Stahl plays John Connor, taking the role over from Edward Furlong. He is, “okay” but doesn’t really add much.
Claire Danes plays Kathryn Brewster, she gets plenty to do – but I felt that this was slightly below her talent. She has a forced emotion moment in the third act that doesn’t really work.
Kristanna Loken plays TX – and is the MVP of the film. She does cold calculating killer well.
Breakdown
Set in the early aughties – this sees John Connor on a completely different path than we left him. He and mum Sarah stopped Judgement Day from happening, and following her death (from Leukaemia!) he has gone ‘off grid’ – refusing to put his name in the system for fear of an uncertain future.
A new Terminator – a beautiful woman known as Terminatrix (or TX) has been sent back in time – her task, to eliminate all those who would become John’s Lieutenants in the future war. One of those targets is Kathryn Brewster, an old flame from before he went underground – and whose dad just happens to be the one in charge of the military that is trying to stop a bug from infecting all of their computers… which is the start of Judgment Day!!!
The Terminator v Terminator action is similar to what we’ve seen before, with the added graphics to help out. There is a lack of Jim Cameron’s flair to some of these moments, and just don’t live up to the preceding film, which was made 11 years prior. Terminatrix, being able to transform into weaponry – which bends the rules of the first film in an interesting way.
I liked they improved the pacing with TX ‘breaking down’ in this film due to the insane damage it has inflicted upon it.
T-101 feels more robotic – and there is less heart than in the previous entry. There is a very odd sequence in which it… is frustrated??? And smashes up a truck in anger. I didn’t really get what they were going with here, but if they were trying to add some humanity to it, I think this was a miss. I thought they could have done a little more with T-101 having been reprogrammed to kill John.
I didn’t mind the ‘destiny’ of John/Kate – in that if they had started a relationship all the way back in the 90s then it might have changed the course of JD, and what is to become of them in the future too…
There are some solid action set pieces that are on par with Cameron’s work, which include the crane chase sequence and the funeral home attack sequence/escape.
Overall
Solid third entry in the franchise, with some great action set pieces.
Some slightly wooden performances at times, but I liked the introduction of the TX as an antagonist.
I’m curious to see how they retcon some characters fates in future films.
3.5/5
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