Terminator 3: The Rise of the Machines (2003)

Widely panned like every Terminator sequel post T2 (1991), Rise Of The Machines is, for me, easily the best of the rest. No Terminator film since T2 has come close to James Cameron’s original two, although 2019’s Dark Fate somewhat bizarrely achieved a handful of decent reviews, despite it being easily the worst film in the franchises history. Terminator Salvation (2009) had the interesting idea of setting the film in the post apocalyptic future, but the uninspiring and disastrous idea of appointing McG as director (a move that drove star Christian Bale to the brink of lunacy) wrecked any chances of it being successful. Funnily enough, Terminator Genisys (2015) despite being spelt ludicrously and actively inviting criticism by wiping the original timeline to discard the events of the first two films, actually worked a lot better than people gave it credit for (and no one gave it any credit). The Terminator franchise is held up as being an important document in film with its central focus on Linda Hamilton’s Sarah Connor as well as Schwarzenegger’s Terminator, one of the few action franchises with an influential and excellent female lead. Rise Of The Machines continues this trend by casting a female Terminator, a new model known as the T-X (Kristanna Loken) sent back in time to eliminate a grown up John Connor (Nick Stahl) who is once more protected by Arnie’s reprogrammed T-800. For me, I still enjoy the jokes and the throwbacks in T3, and although it’s nowhere near the scale of The Terminator (1984) or T2, it offers plenty to enjoy, not least a superb and carnage laden chase sequence in its opening third. It falls away for sure in its final third, and although it’s not saying much, it remains the third best Terminator film for me. 6.7/10