Though it seems to be a good movie, I feel that the real soul of the movie that made Terminator series movies such a hit is missing from its latest sequel.
I’d like to state that its a good movie if you do not consider it as a sequel of the Legendary movies... it does not live up to its expectations. And believe me when it comes to Terminator, no expectations could be high enough.
I could point out some things that are missing in the current release:
Camroon Effect
First of all this sequel has a new director... the magic, the distinct touch of James Camroon, the subtle sense of humour was clearly missing. I do not think the new director (i-do-not-know-his-name-and-I-do-not-give-a-damn) did justice to the sequel.
Concept
It lacks in innovation... it didnt add anything new to the story... it simply made up some fuss and more destruction, introduced the heroine... but no new concept. No new Oscar winning scenes (like the one in T2 where Sara Conner imagines a Nuke War scenario).
Part one had almost negligible effects (as compared to the current release) but its concept was way ahead of it time (1984). T2 introduced a new villain... he had a personality of its own... there were some silent scenes that chilled the bone marrow in your bones... here everything is missing...
Terminator
She is a stupid babe with all the same existing feature as T2... the only addition was that it could remotely control any mechanical device (Cars, buses, machines, etc). What a useless innovation... she uses this power just once in the whole movie... that too in the starting - chase sequence... what happens to this power later on is still a mystery. What amazes me is that our Arnie is also a Robot... hence a mechanical device... then why couldnt she control him? or his gun for that matter? Also why cant she control the car in which our hero John Conner was running away. he must be having some divine power maybe! You cant expect a Terminator sequel to make such a blunder!
Also her hand could be turned into some kind of weapon system... that was something new... in middle of the movie its gets damaged. Now please could someone explain it to me... why could it be repaired... after she was made up some some kind of liquid metal... and could take any shape... couldnt she change the shape of her damaged hand/weapon? Maybe there is a logic... but this lowly mortal simply fails to understand it!
Human Touch
The biggest flaw in this movie is that it lacks human touch.
In part one you had a vulnerable-girl-next-door fighting a ruthless futuristic robot... it also had some intimate scenes of the girl and the savior guy. All these added soul to the movie.
In T2 we saw a child being chased by a omnipresent kind of killer... there was also an angle of mother and child relationship... mother caring about her child, world... there were even emotions involved between the Terminator and the kid... kind of child father relationship was present between man (kid) and the machine...
Its all Missing here in T3...
And you just cant help missing its proprietary sense of humour, that was present in first 2 parts...
The movie starts on a good note... seems like an authentic product... then the destruction starts... sending everything for a toss... some time is spent on explaining the logic to the new character... Mrs. John Conner... a dumb looking blonde... and before you know it... movie reels into its climax and just when you realise that its getting all over... movie ends... leaving a lot desired and unsaid.
Moreover here you have a 22 year old guy fighting with a female (my apologies if I sound like a MCP but)... it doesnt carry any conviction... you do not sympathise with the guy..
All said and done... I wish it werent a Terminator sequel... then I would have enjoyed it a lot better! - still its worth watching one time.
Thanks!
ATB,
Rohit Malaviya