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When I first watched Rise Of The Machines at the time of its cinematic release, I never expected it to surpass the original Terminator, or even come close to the brilliant sequel, Terminator 2: Judgment Day. I did, however, at least expect to be entertained by some decent action scenes and a plot that involved the continuation of SkyNet's advancement in the near future.

Despite many people's criticisms,T3 is actually a very worthy sequel. James Cameron may not be in the director's chair this time around, but Jonathan Mostow and his team of scriptwriters do a good job at staging action sequences and keeping the story moving with a few added twists. I've watched film a fair few times now, and I can conclude that this second sequel actually gets better with time (ironic, one would think, considering the film's idea of the inevitable downfall of human nature).

Now, do I really need to explain the story? If I must: Judgement Day is edging closer and closer and there's only one man that can prevent the technological overhaul of our existence -- that man is, of course, John Connor (this time played by Nick Stahl). Connor chooses to live his life as a "ghost" with no home, credit card, phone or job, as a way of protecting himself from the threat of SkyNet. Unsurprisingly, though, SkyNet's most sophisticated cyborg killing machine yet -- the T-X (Kristanna Loken) -- soon emerges from the crackles of lightening, and is out to assassinate Connor and prevent mankind's predetermined victory in the nuclear war of the future. Luckily, good-guy Arnold Schwarzenegger is back in his trademark T-800 role, and isn't about to roll over quite so easily to the threat just yet.

Suffice to say, Linda Hamilton and Edward Furlong failed to stop judgement day in Terminator 2 for reasons that aren't properly explained here -- as Arnie puts it, "Judgement Day is inevitable" in T3. But this second sequel isn't about to bring you any in-depth explanations of its theory; rather, it's out to prove a point that there's still enough fuel in the tank to keep dedicated followers of the Terminator franchise happy and wanting more.

As a big Terminator fan myself, I'm pleased to say that this instalment gets high marks for its entertainment levels. There's a great chase scene concerned with the T-X after T-800, John and Kate, which involves a crane and some animal welfare truck, and it's pretty much chaos all the way; and by the time the machines start to become aware, in the present sense, at SkyNet headquarters, there's a unavoidable feeling of eeriness that sets up a great finale.

T3 is also easily the funniest of the series, particularly with its levels of self-mockery. We all know that when the T-800 is sent back then the first thing he's going to do is go on the prowl for clothes, so how would you expect the team behind the film to inject some life into this seemingly-impossible-to-avoid repetition? Get Arnie to walk into a strip club and tell the incredibly-camp stripper to "Take off his clothes" -- yhat's how.

O.K., so it's not exactly side-splitting humour, but this sort of creativity makes T3 just as engaging and intriguing as the first two films. This isn't James Cameron's gritty original or explosive first sequel by any means, but director Mostow's contribution here at least stays true to the themes that established the franchise as one of the best of all time in the sci-fi genre, and it'd be unfair to hate on the film for that.

As far as the characters go, Stahl makes a great, mature John Connor in his mid 20s; Claire Danes (Romeo and Juliet) also does a decent job as Kate Brewster, the future wife to John; and Kristanna Loken is probably the scariest female cyborg you're ever likely to see (call me "sexist", but I really don't find women all that intimidating when they're asked to play serial killers).

Then there’s Arnold, still the star of the show. Believable in both instances as the protector to John and Kate and as the relentless killing machine, he is the cyborg that audiences can't help but love. It's a sad likelihood that he won't be returning for Terminator: Salvation, and whoever is selected to play the T-800 in his place has a lot of hard work ahead of him to even come close to the standards that he's set.

So, the bottom line, was Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines really worth the wait? Well, considering it was never going to live up to the expectations of the two films that came before it, it still manages to be a very enjoyable addition not just Terminator franchise, but to the sci-fi genre overall, and for that I have to commend it. It offers plenty of action, moments of suspense, solid performances, and an awesome ending that will leave you watering at the mouth for yet another Terminator film soon to be released. With these points considered, yes, T3 was worth the wait.

(C) Andy Carrington, 2009.