Kennelco Film Diary

(2003) dir. Jonathan Mostow
viewed: 11/19/03

Lowered expectations can sometimes really benefit the viewing of a mediocre film.

I can’t say that I expected much from this third installment of the Terminator films. Most notably, James Cameron bowed out as director/producer, and while I have mixed-to-bad feelings for Cameron, he was a big part of what made the original two films. And Schwarzenegger, our new governor, has really devolved as a caricature of a caricature as an “action hero” actor. His body is still freakishly muscular, but his face has the weathered, plasticine look of much make-up and potentially a facelift or two. His delivery is more stiff than ever, even for a robot.

Actually, I we bemused by the thought of Schwarzenegger’s Terminator as sort of a new Godzilla. One of those film monsters/villains that is so popular with the public that he is brought back as The Hero. The most hilariously bad scene in the film is when Schwarzenegger has been reprogrammed by the evil female Terminator to be bad again and he is conflicted and is forced to shut himself down. It’s pretty damn funny, really.

That some of the action and dialogue are lame, unimaginitive Hollywood explosions and claptrap, who is really surprised? That there is little originality left in the narrative, who thought that there would be something new here?

But, you know, I found it fairly enjoyable. I felt the pleasure of not having to really concentrate to follow the entire thing through and was pretty near entertained the whole time. The big chase sequence with the construction crane tearing up the city streets and flipping cars was as satisfying an action sequence that I had seen in a while. Some of the humor, bad and tired as it was, even amused me. For once, I was really in the mood to see something like this, I guess.

Hey, it’s not a classic, but if you drop your expectations, it can be pretty fun.