An Afternoon with the Terminatrix

I managed to catch Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines at the 21 Cineplex at Grand Wijaya Center yesterday. I am fond of trying out different cineplexes for different movies (not that they are any different, except for the price). However I have so far avoided the more trendy Plaza Senayan and Planet Hollywood cineplexes, preferring the anonymity and grubbiness of the lower middleclass theatres such as TIM, Atrium and Wijaya Center.

I had enjoyed James Cameron's first Terminator: it was like a well-made B-grade sci-fi noir with lots of fun and originality. T2 was a bit of a bore to me because it was more fun watching Arnie as the bad-guy Terminator instead of the cliched robot-with-a-heart, one-liner spewing, crowd-pleasing mime act of T2. Expecting more of the same, I wasn't exactly looking forward to T3 with great enthusiasm.

Luckily T3 has an interesting twist - there's a female Terminator - the T-X or affectionately nicknamed, Terminatrix. We have the statuesque Kristanna Loken as the killer cyborg with all the morphing abilities of Robert Patrick's T-1000 plus more. T-X proves more than a challenge to the obseleted T-800 Terminator played by Swarzenegger; to me she stole the entire show.

Director Jonathan Mostow tried hard to impress with big explosions and even bigger car chases but high-octane stunts have become such a big bore from Hollywood productions these days. In the age of CGI, everything is possible and nothing impresses us anymore.

Yawning over those parts, I quietly cheered everytime Loken's T-X appeared: Her ice-cool Nordic features, steely glare, sexy strut and inflatable boobs certainly helped. She literally have the killer looks and certainly deserved more than the #3 ranking that she got on the Maxim's 2003 Hot 100 List.

I'm not surprised to find out that in the current online poll that's being run by The Star's Entertainment section, Loken's Terminatrix is neck-to-neck with Arnie as everyone's favourite Terminator model, beating Robert Patrick's forgettable T-1000.

I wouldn't even bother to comment about the plot of T3, which didn't really rise above the mundane and as expected left enough materials for umpteenth sequels and probably even a TV series. Claire Danes as John Connor's (Nick Stahl) love interest was a nice addition to the cast though.

I certainly hope Kristanna Loken will make a comeback (though unlikely) in future sequels. I think she even deserves a spin-off of her own ala The Scorpion King. On that lazy Saturday afternoon at Kebayoran Baru, The Terminatrix certainly made my day.