By Margaret A. McGurk
The Cincinnati Enquirer

A killer robot, played by Kristanna Koken, takes on Schwarzenegger | ZOOM |

Sci-fi fans want to know: Does Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines match the history-making stature of its two predecessors?

Well, no.

That's not to say it's a flop. As a summertime blow-em-up popcorn movie, it works just fine.

For one thing, Arnold Schwarzenegger is back, stomping across the land in leather and facial scars as the robot from the future sent back in time to protect the kid who will grow up to lead the rebellion against the machines that will nuke the human race into near extinction until ... Look, either you know the story or you don't need to care.

That's the beauty of the franchise; plot is just an excuse for a barrage of Arnoldian wisecracks surrounded by stunts and special effects like you cannot believe.

MOVIE REVIEW

Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (R; strong sci-fi violence and action, language, brief nudity) Arnold Schwarzenegger, Nick Stahl, Claire Danes. Directed by Jonathan Mostow. 109 minutes. AMC 20, Colony Square, Danbarry Middletown, Great Escape 14, Holiday Auto Theatre, National Amusements Rave West Chester, Showplace 8, Starlite Drive-In.

With founding father James Cameron off the helm, director Jonathan Mostow (Breakdown, U-571) brings a seasoned hand to the business of crushing cars, smashing concrete walls and setting off the occasional hydrogen bomb.

The movie stakes out its territory within the first half hour through a wild car chase - with squad cars, amublances, firetrucks and a humongous crane - of the kind that usually shows up in the grand finale.

Action-wise, the movie doesn't back down much from there, and frankly all the explosions and hand-to-hand combat get to feeling a teeny, tiny bit tedious after a while.

The big twist in T3 is that a new killer robot in female form (Kristanna Loken) has been sent by the machines to kill John Connor (Nick Stahl) and the youngsters who will grow up to be his lieutenants when he leads the future rebellion, including feisty veterinarian Kate Brewster (Claire Danes)

The female robot is even more indestructible than the Robert Patrick's way-cool liquid-metal villain from T2.

That means that (A) Arnold gets to pound on a woman in a fight scene that frankly gets a little icky before it calls a halt, and (B) the fight never really ends.

That means that, while thoroughly craftsmanlike, the action scenes do run on and on. And on.

Still, the young humans bring a satisfying emotional heft to the proceedings, even when the script - obviously written by a committee - runs thin.

Her character is closer to the role Linda Hamilton played in the first Terminator - a normal woman who fights back when dragged into unbelievable peril - than she does the raging, snarling, pumped-up psycho Hamilton became in T2.

Of course, the heart and soul of the enterprise is the heartless, souless machine played by the biological father of all action figures. Schwarzenegger gets plenty of chances to wink at the audience with witty references to the first film, including a hilarious variation on the scene in which the big guy acquires his first set of clothes.

Seriously, Arnold: Forget politics. You're much more fun on screen.

E-mail: mmcgurk@enquirer.com