Hi, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab...

I just saw HBO’s FIRST LOOK thing on TERMINATOR 3 earlier tonight, and the footage I saw there finally did it. I’m pushed over the edge from skeptical to curious to interested and now actually eager to see what Jonathan Mostow has cooked up with this one. The word seems to be pretty darn good so far, although I’d love to hear from anyone who disagrees after the screenings tonight in England. Right now, we’re just hearing from those who liked it.

Like this first guy, for example:

Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines. After seeing several minutes of cool footage at this year's Cannes Film festival in May and attended a conference that housed producing giants Andy Vajna and Mario Kasar, I was left without a doubt that T3 would rock the planet.

Naturally, in fact obviously, the footage I and others saw were somewhat the 'best' bits and I shoulda known you can't get the true feel of what a movie's gonna be like in just seven minutes. Now that woulda certainly have been the most expensive short film ever, right?

Actually, T3 to me did seem a little short. We'll probably get a load of Special Editions and Ultimate Special Fantastic Director's Cut Editions on DVD in the coming months and years ahead, with added scenes and the footage we never saw, but until then, here's my summing up.

So where do we start with this movie? How do you top or equal or follow up Judgment Day? By whacking in a load of neat state of the art effects? Hmm, maybe, what else? By getting a one helluva babe as the villain of the piece? Ooh, maybe. What else? How about mirroring and cranking up a coupla the big ass scenes that wowed audiences back in 1991's T2? Yeah, baby. That'll work.

For a moment, I thought I was watching some unseen, newly discovered footage from T2 or from the Universal theme park ride that was left in the garage of the family home, once shared by Hamilton and Cameron, which was found in a box of bits and pieces from a garage sale, when the couple decided to go their separate ways. "Mom? Can I have a 100 million bucks to buy these Terminator dailies? Please, Mom? Please?"

Actor Nick Stahl is the first guy we see, as John Connor and more to the point, the first thing we hear, as he replaces Linda Hamiliton's voice over from the previous films, telling the audience what the hell has happened since he was 13 years old and how he lives a life pretty much like the Littlest Hobo dog, getting odd jobs and how he just keeps moving on. I've not seen Stahl in anything since Mel Gibbo's The Man Without A Face, so I can't really rate his progress as an actor. He was good with Mel, but who isn't good with Mel Gibson? I know we all grow up, (sometimes), but we often retain the childlike qualities we had from our yester-years, but I felt John Connor didn't. Stahl was good in the role, but I couldn't help comparing him to the cocky, grungy Edward Furlong.

There were lots of references to the previous sequel and sure there's gonna be. When penning a script, it's kinda difficult not to mention stuff from other movies in a successful franchise, right Die Hard fans? But there was a lot. "Don't you remember me?" Says Connor to Schwarzenegger's Terminator. "Don't you remember anything I taught you? ‘Hasta la vista, baby’?" Now that was perhaps the coolest line in T2 and there were more mirroring scenes to follow, making this a kind of homage to the perfectionist that still is James Cameron. The Terminator doesn't remember that line as he was a different Terminator, which was kinda to the point. THIS is a different Terminator movie. Different writers. Different director.

The T-X is the New Yorker that is Kristanna Loken. Other than having guest starred in stuff like Lois And Clark and Boy Meets World, I hadn't heard of her. This balletic, ballistic beauty will surely be on my 'Talent To Look Out For' List and I just hope she continues and doesn't go off track like Natasha Henstridge after Species, who I thought was quite promising and Robert Patrick too, but he came back and redeemded himself with Copland.

Kristanna Loken is electrifyingly awesome whenever she's on screen. Just like Robert Patrick, in T2 and the Energizer Bunny, she keeps on going and doesn't give up.

Claire Danes does her action turn, playing the role of Kate. Or Katherine Brewster. A veternary nurse and one time making out partner of a young John Connor. It unfolds in the movie that she too, like Connor, is to protected by the Terminator. I have nothing bad to say about Danes. Ever. She's great in everything and she's great in this. Sure shes no replacement for Linda Hamilton, but I'm certain her character will grow and yes, I'm expecting a T4.

The T-101 that is The Terminator that is of course, Arnold Schwarzenegger. The black leather, sunglasses and the limited dialogue is back. After a few stumbling block movies, bar End Of Days and Eraser, you have to admit, it is his franchise and he did need to come back to his most famous role. Arnie got cheers a plenty when he kicked major butt in this movie. You get what you pay for. The Terminator.

I'm not gonna comment too much on Jonathan Mostow. I met him briefly in Cannes and thought he was a nice, intelligent bloke. I liked his previous movies, Breakdown and U571 and he certainly knows how to direct a variety of stuff. He told me that he toyed with the script too and I wish he, the other writers or even Arnold hadn't put too much comedy in the movie. It came across as a slight send up of the franchise and I was left feeling I hadn't experienced suspense or a certain shock factor that the other films made me feel.

I'm not bringing the movie down. I did enjoy the action and yes - the updated mirrored action sequence that was previously seen in T2, with the motorcycle and truck chase and Arnie's opening scene when he gets himself some clothes. I do feel the film has been too edited to fit the running time. Some scenes happened too quickly, with characters getting to a particular destination far too soon and also.. Don't cars run out of gas, people? You're driving mega miles, I was at least expecting Arnie to do a Van Damme from Universal Soldier and push the damn truck the rest of the way. Obviously not.

I'm not sure which movie will be this year's super blockbuster. Charlie's Angels 2? The Hulk? Bad Boys 2 or Terminator 3? As I wipe the dust off my Terminator figure that stands on my desk, I think that I woulda liked a little more from T3, but it's still the Terminator and I'll see it again and I'll tell you all to go see it and then get to Talk Back. Make up your own minds, filmies.

Not the world’s most effusive praise, but praise nonetheless. Let’s see what’s up next:

Hi Harry, Hicks here.

I just saw T3. Showing a learning curve...

1) Spoiler free.

It's good. A good sequel that has all the requisite tropes, tips of the cap and overblown action stakes that are expected of a chapter in a monolithic sci-fi action series. But it is never more than good, which, in itself is a dumb statement cos what could be better than good? Well, the raw response is the bone-jangling, eye-popping, cerebellum-aching brilliance of the first two James Cameron movies.

I was thoroughly entertained, even exhilarated by the action set pieces, but in a stupefied, laugh-out-loud at the carnage kinda way - I suppose I was hoping for the stitched-to-the-edge-of-my-seat-at-the-molecular-level that T2 gave me when I was 15. Maybe I'm just getting old...

Arnie is fine - it is an extension of his T2 performance meshed with his his clumsy comedy alter ego with the Terminator-meets-world ante upped. But FACT - he is looking old. Incredibly well-preserved, 'still got great pecs' kinda old, but his eyes lack a sharpness and that is pretty key to the whole shebang of his signature role.

Nick Stahl is great as John Connor - the right mixture of anger, paranoia, vulnerability and strength shine through and I suspect Eddie Furlong may not have been able to achieve this tricky balance of pathos. Although his voice-over is a weeny bit annoying (but actually less than Linda Hamilton's doper deadpan one on T2).

Claire Danes - an actress I like - is adequate, but the biggest plot-bending-to-keep-the-franchise-alive moments revolve around her character and so her character feels forced.

Terminatrix (Kristanna Loken) - well, she is soooo much better than the trailer suggested, but she pretty much still sucks. I missed bad Arnie and Robert Patrick so much. The idea of the TX is threatening and the visuals are terrifically realised, but she never truly represents a serious fear, not the way the T1000 made you sit up and go 'fuuuuuuuucccckk'. The underlying logic of her technology is well conceived and consistent except for one logic defying escape that I will go into later.

Jonathan Mostow does a dependable job, but like U-571, he had crafted a bizarrely old-fashioned, grainy-lookin' film with a couple of standout set-pieces but which lacks any sustained momentum. It looks great, plays great, great FX but it ends up being just enjoyable. And there is definitely a sense of anti-climax, with the best action coming at the midpoint.

I missed Brad Fiedel - Marco Beltrani's music was so, well, bland. It was so indistinct and basic in its percussive scoring. I found myself begging for that creepy wheeze that accompanied the T1000, but to no avail. And having Fiedel's sig tune on the end only compounds this feeling.

The script-by-committee comes out surprisingly well, with lots of neat conjunctions with the previous instalments and a wealth of spot-on gags, plus it heads in a brave direction toward the end (although 'setting up a sequel' would be an understatement). There are a series of nice conceits to explain just how and why Judgement Day was 'postponed' rather than prevented and why it isn't important that Sarah Connors is dead and that, my this Danes girl, now she is REALLY important, a rather blunt sleight of hand that requires some grace from the audience.

Overall a fun night out, but this isn't the movie event that Carolco, Arnie and Mostow are hoping. Even if it opens HUGE the drop off will be HUGER, simply because of a brave ending and a sense, unfortunately, of diminishing return.

2) Spoilers.

So it ends [SPOILER REMOVED BECAUSE IT’S REALLY JUST TOO MUCH TO KNOW BEFORE IT COMES OUT… SERIOUSLY, YOU’LL THANK ME LATER – “M”]…

This shoehorning continues with Arnie - they REALLY stress how he is an old model on this one, and a T101 that has already seen action, so he MIGHT BE A BIT WEATHERED OK? But the nicest script conceit is that this Arnie has been re-programmed by [SOMEBODY] in the future because the same Arnie successfully terminated Connor in the future (what!!! I hear you say). And the domino revisionism where Arnie explains that JDay is inevitable etc and that we are all subject to predestination undermines the dystopic optimism of Cameron's T2 coda. The Future ain't what we make it cos we'll only postpone getting fucked by the machines a few more years... What with this and the Matrix the machines may begin to think we don't trust em...

As for the inevitable question of whether Jim would like it, well I don't think he'll break a sweat watching this and won't wanna track Mostow down and terminate his ass. I think he will sigh, nod and be safe in the knowledge that no one makes sci-fi action like him. His T2 is a classic, his Terminator 1 a masterpiece of cult movie-making. T3 is a sturdy commercial action flick, done well and with care but without the inspiration and, above all, clarity of Cameron's work. It's ending is intellectually rewarding, but can it compare to the breathless, tearful conclusion to T2. Not in a month of Sundays.

The standout moments are the crane car chase (Arnie is bit tough, ain't he?) and the penultimate Arnie beating on the TX in a toilet (how many times can he smash her head through porcelain!!!!). The logic break comes when the TX is captured by a hugely powerful magnet that is slowly pulling her to pieces when somehow she manages to extract her buzzsaw and cut into it. If the magnet was as powerful as depicted, how the fuck did she do that? It seems small on the page, but you'll see. However, this is balanced by the wonderful moment where she punches through the driving seat AND the driver and then steers the car through them both!!

The gradual build to military size spectacle and the activation of SkyNet is nowhere near as dramatic as it should be (a wasted opportunity) where everything is meant to be implied by the rampage of early prototype Terminators and HKs. And the final conclusion, that there is no one mainframe, that Skynet's AI self awareness is a result of cyberspace and networking, flies in the face of the previous plot orthodoxy that Connor destroys the Skynet mainframe...but wait! Now there is no mainframe...hmmmm.

Franchising is beginning to damage the ground-breaking films the begin them. I doubt I will watch T3 again (well maybe once more) but I would be up for T4 (damn, right into their hands!).

Enjoy it but don't get yer hopes up!

Hicks

Okay. One last one, and then we’re done:

Hi Harry,

Managed to get some tickets for the Press screening of Terminator 3 last night at Odeon Leicester Square. Not since the midnight showing of episode 2 have i seen a cinema so buzzing. Anticipation was high, the theme played repeatedly until the lights went down.

First off we were treated to the trailer for Bad Boys 2, not bad, loads of action, something to do with Martin Lawrences sister getting kidnapped, a car chase that would probably put Matrix to shame, and the god awful line from Smith claiming that BAD BOY'S STICK TOGETHER! There wasn't really much reception from the audience after it finished, it kinda looked like one of those seen the trailer seen the film kind of things.

Anyways, I don't know what to write in regards to plot etc, but i think i'll just write what comes to mind.

John Connor (Nick Stahl), his voice over at the beginning seemed wooden, i don't know. It didn't really seem to have an edge like Linda Hamiltons in T2. Although i think as the pace picked up he seemed to get more believable. He's a loner now, no address, no phone etc, he rides a motorbike at 80mph! and falls off it. Cut to him going to an Animal Hospital to get some drugs for his bad leg.

Then we meet Kate Brewster (Clare Danes) a vet, she discovers John collapsed in the hospital and after a tussle she throws him into a cage. Que first cheesy dialogue reminiscence scene. She got off with him the day before T2. Coincidence or what? Danes seemed a lot different from what i remembered her in Romeo and Juliet, Yeah she's grown up, but she just looked and sounded kind of ordinary, and from there it kind of developed into a kind of whiney/screamy performance. Save for the last fifteen minutes when she actually accepts her fate.

Oh, but wait i've forgot to mention the while this is happening strange glowing electrical spheres are taking out shops and desert wasteland. Yup, you bet. The Terminators are back.

First off, Lokenn is cool, great entrance. Good kind of menacing stare the same way Robert Patrick looked in T2. She basically starts and doesn't stop. She is ruthless, no remorse etc. And this is when the film began to surprise me.

The violence, it seemed they wanted to return to the original kind of extreme approach to this one. Like Arnie ripped peoples hearts out etc. (Check out the cop car, through the seat scene) Some of it is just downright evil. Lokenn instantly heads for her primary targets killing women children anyone she needs, and I don't think they were afraid to show it either.

Now. ARNIE. This guy is still looking pretty good, personally i thought he looked better in the beginning arrival scene then he did for the rest of the movie. He entrance didn't disappoint, but it did seem a little bit too comedic for me, and this was the problem with his role in this one. Humour. Ok in T2 there was whole scene dedicated to John Connor helping the Terminator become more human etc, changing his CPU. He doesn't even remotely attempt to do anything of the sort this time around, but still manages time crack or become the mock of bad jokes. Sure some made me laugh, but the shades joke was going on a little too much!

Doe's he kick ass you bet, and so doe's Lokenn. It is amazing how much of a kicking these two get in this film. The hospital explosion, leads instantly to a chase. Arnie hangs on the back of a.....shit what do you call them? I dunno something with an arm on the back that swings from side to side. He crashes throw buildings, collides with cars. And Lokenn takes out just about anything in her way, in a lorry a whole street, in a helicopter the whole landing bay, (only to be topped by Arnie arriving in the same fashion but by gunship).

All this time Stahl and Danes (more so) just act confused, Connor can't get his head around why there is another, and Danes can't believe.....

[SPOILER REMOVED AGAIN]

Then were off the cemetary. Sarah Connors grave. Full of guns. The police arrive. Arnold does a rehash of the cyberdine shoot out, and then Lokenn shows up. Que another car chase slightly smaller, but still rockin. It's just amazing how cool it is to see the women smashing and crunching her way through whatever obstacle is infront of her.

Oh yeah one other thing i forgot to mention. Kate father is head of Skynet, a computer virus is out of control. They need to get to where he works to take out Skynet before the machines are activated at 6.18pm (judgement day?)

Too late, and that's when the fun really kicks off. Arnie loses his skin, Kate loses her father, Arnie has one huge god damm fight with Lokenn in a toilet (true lies) only more brutal. Check out the scene of arnie smashing a toilet over Lokenns head. ROCKIN!

[MORE SPOILERS FROM THE ENDING REMOVED]

And thats all i'm gonna say. I think i've said enough, too much but god damm! even with all the complaints, it still manages to impress with it's action. But there's definitely a gap from Cameron's presence. Mostow, kind of seemed to want to get the feel of the other films T2 mostly, but ends up twisting it with speeded up/slo-mo shots that were too excessively used. And the music was a bit of a let down. From what I can remember, the main theme was only used at the end of the film.

Shame!

But what do i know, i'm just a fanboy who got free goodies and had a rockin good evening.

You can call me

Jack's Smirking T-1000

Thanks, guys. Sounds like I’m gonna see some fireworks this 4th of July after all. Whoo-hoo!

"Moriarty" out.