Terminator
3: Rise of the Machines
You can’t deny Arnie is the King of
the Comeback. There have been key moments in his career where the hype around
his return was huge. On one of these many returns to centre stage, was 1999.
The actor had taken a two year break from movies (after 13 years of making one
film a year) to undergo open heart surgery. All went well, and Schwarzenegger
planned a comeback to conquer all comebacks. Cashing in on the year 1999 like
so many other artists did, he chose to star in “End of Days”. There had been
talk the world would end at the stroke of midnight on January
1st 2000, and Y2K
fever went into over drive. How would the world end? The biggest theory was
that the worlds computers would not be able to process the change in date to 00
(in reference to 2000) and with this drastic confusion, anything operated by
computers would shut down. The lights would go out and planes would fall from
the sky. But Arnie’s flick got a little more creative, focusing on the arrival
of non other than Satan himself. The location; New York City. The point of his
return; to find the chosen one, a young female, and make her his bride, giving
birth to Satan’s spawn. An unusual choice for Arnie's but despite this, he did
turn in one of his better performances, as a burnt out cop trying to save the
world from the Devil. It looked like Arnie was back in fine form, and at only
age 52, he still had some flex left in his muscles.
However, Schwarzenegger’s next two
films after End of Days fizzled out. First up was “The Sixth Day”, set in the
future where Arnie is cloned and has to get back his life. Then there was
“Collateral Damage”, where he played a Los
Angeles fireman whose wife and
son are killed in a terrorist bombing at a downtown building. Given it was
originally due for release just weeks after the events of 9/11, Arnie and his
team decided to postpone the release of the film, eventually sending it to theatres
in February 2002. This didn’t do the movie any favours, as it tanked at the box
office. The challenges Arnie now faced, was that he was an ageing action star
who reigned supreme in the 80’s and 90’s, but this was a post-Matrix world.
Action films had been changed for good and in every way because of that
original piece of brilliant imagination, and Arnie and his counterparts
(Stallone, Van Damme, Seagal) had to rethink how they could stay relevant. In a
smart move to the changes in movies thrust upon him, Schwarzenegger gave in and
signed up for “Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines”, even after he claimed he
would never return to play his most famous character, because he didn’t see
Judgement Day ever being topped and James Cameron was not returning to direct.
The fan base certainly existed, and
the minds behind the third instalment made some clever choices and didn’t try
to reinvent the franchise or top the second one. How could you top Judgement
Day? So they stuck to what worked, and just made a reliable action film that
stayed true to the roots of the franchise, but added a couple of new twists to
the plot.
The biggest change for the
series was having the villainous Terminator sent back to kill John Connor (now
in his early twenties) portrayed in a way not seen before – as a female. The
casting of little known actress Kristina Lokin as the Terminatrix, gave us a
more advanced, more intelligent and more powerful killing machine. Quite ironic
that they chose to camouflage the robot in the guise of a beautiful woman. Is
that what it had come to for Arnie – getting his arse kicked by a chick? In
fact, this was a good choice. Schwarzenegger is an actor who has never been
deluded about who he is and what he is capable of. He has always played to his
strengths of course, building his entire career on that foundation, but he also
embraced his weaknesses and uses them as a crucial element to the arc of his
character. Hence the reason why his portrayal of The Terminator in the upcoming
Genisys shows him in his older years, and not done up with make up or
enhancements to make him look younger. The reason why they kept his aged
appearance in the upcoming sequel is a clever and credible idea, which will be
explained directly to the audience.
The other twist in T3 was that
it appeared Judgement Day would still happen. But hang on; didn’t they stop
this from happening at the end of the second movie? The Connors threw the spare
chip and robotic arm retrieved from the first Terminator appearance, into the
pit of melted steel. Even the Terminator did his part, destroying the only
remaining chip in his head by having himself lowered into the fiery pit. But
for some reason, the threat of nuclear war still existed, and as the Terminator
put it to John Connor this time, “You didn’t stop Judgement Day. You only
postponed it”. This is where a closer look at the entity known as Skynet comes
into play during the film. Along for the ride this time is young Kate Brewster,
who happens to meet John Connor through a matter of fate, to find out she will
be one of his lieutenants in the future, as part of the human resistance
against the machines. Her father just so happens to be the Director of Skynet,
and the man who also holds the key to shutting the system down before it takes
over and starts the war. Hence the subtitle, Rise of the Machines.
T3 didn’t really break any new
ground in the movie game like the first two did. It did please the majority of
fans and kept proceedings short and sweet, packing in some solid action scenes
and decent special effects. Nick Stahl as John Connor (replacing Edward Furlong
because he had chosen drugs over a movie career) does a good job, carrying his
performance as a young guy on the run, trying to avoid his destiny, but knowing
deep down that he never really could. And as for Arnie, well he was definitely
back (again), showing that at age 56, he could still kick but and was
in good as shape as ever. But he was a man with a plan and was about to
carry out phase three of his American Dream; he had conquered body building,
ruled the movies and now had his sights set firmly on the world of politics.
And like he had always done, was successful, securing his position as Governor
of California in 2003. He earned himself the nickname The Governator, and traded
guns and explosions for suits and press conferences, leaving behind the action
hero gig to play public servant, and contribute back to the state and country
that had been so good to him.
Thus, it looked as if The Terminator
series was done and dusted. Arnie had retired from movies, and how could you
have another one without him? This didn’t stop the ever persistent Hollywood machine, which green lit “Terminator:
Salvation” for a 2009 release. Starring big names like Christian Bale of Dark
Knight fame, and Avatar-up-and-comer Sam Worthington, Schwarzenegger would be
nowhere in sight for this film, or would he…?
Read review for "Terminator: Salvation"
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