Arnold Schwarzenegger is back as the Terminator, a man-machine sent back in time from the future to protect emerging freedom fighter John Connor (Nick Stahl). In the third incarnation, Connor is a little wiser and even more cut off from society. John thinks he has prevented the world’s destruction for good. That is until he ends up breaking into a veterinary clinic and meets Kate Brewster (Claire Daines).

On that fateful night, Connor and Brewster end up facing off against a brand-new terminating female time-traveler called the T-X (Kristianna Loken). Luckily their lives are rescued by a Terminator John is very familiar with: the T-101. It seems that more than just Judgment Day had to be averted. What is the T-X’s primary mission? Can the world be saved one more time? Or has man succumb to the hand of fate, finally?

I had my doubts that this film could survive after Terminator creator James Cameron walked away and was very adamant about not continuing his man-machine epic. It is often that when a creator walks and the project is handed over to unknowns, the project is destined to fail.

"Terminator 3" is an exception.

How could you do a followup to a benchmark science fiction film like "T-2" without stumbling? Well, first off, you embrace the subject matter and tell a story that evolves and doesn’t damage what has gone on before.

Director Jonathan Mostow's vision of the "Terminator" breathes new life into the epic struggle of man vs. machine. Mostow and his writers reveal more secrets to how we get to the world of man vs. machine. Connor learns that he now isn’t the only key ingredient in the survival of mankind. This sequel allows the story to evolve further and doesn’t feel like an after thought. With so many years between movies often those kinds of sequels feel like that.

I really liked seeing Arnie back as his iconic character. There is a reason why he is so memorable. His one-liners and humor in this film are so priceless. I really loved his return to what he does best.

My tiny problems in the film revolve around relative newcomer Nick Stahl and his chemistry with Arnie. I just didn’t feel that Stahl was John Connor. Every time the script had him recall his mother or events from the previous film, I found it very awkward. I also found that his relationship with the Terminator wasn’t played the way it should have been. I have such fond memories of Edward Furlong (the original John Connor) and what that actor brought to the relationship between man and machine. This whole concept seems lost in Stahl’s performance.

I liked the performance of Claire Daines as the woman in distress who evolves during the harrowing experience. Her very real performance brings a lot of credibility to this journey. You can almost see a little of Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) from the first film in that performance. She was so more interesting than her polar opposite John Connor.

I also have to note the performance of Kristianna Loken as the female terminator. I really liked how she was able to adapt a lot of the mannerisms and body language that Robert Patrick used in "T-2". Even if she only says a total of 30 words in the film, she does an excellent job of fusing beauty and lethal into one menacing look.