Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines

This was well made and a lot of fun. Many sequels, particularly in action and science fiction genres, destroy their own narrative, continuity and mythology by throwing in a retcon. This seemed to follow neatly from the first two films, explaining the revised Judgement Day without really contradicted the second film. It stuck to its formula, threw in a bunch of fan favourite phrases and images. Pretty enjoyable really.

This is _not_ a "great" Terminator movie, and while I was wildly critical of it 21 years ago, I've come to appreciate it as at least a worthy continuation of Cameron's vision. Is it his? No, but it does fit. The very fact that there was a Terminator 2 _really_ solidified the "There is no fate" theme from the first. Sarah thought she'd stopped Judgement Day only to learn she didn't, then in T2, it seemed certainly prevented. Back in 2002, I was _not_ thrilled to hear about another Terminator movie being made _without_ Cameron writing/directing, but when John and [spoiler]Kate realize they were sent to that bunker to survive, and the nukes started flying,[/spoiler] I realized this was at least kinda trying to match Cameron's take. Is it as good as T2? Hell, no. Is it at least a worthy followup? Yeah. I'll never forget my friend's words when we were leaving the theater that night; he was _not_ excited to see this or about its existence, but as we were walking out of the auditorium, he simply said, "I love a happy ending" because it at least ended in a way that worked with the overall lore.