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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…?
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