Armchair Script Doc: Terminator 3

We watch a movie featuring one of our favorite actors and it simply doesn’t quite work. I find that most of the time the problems can be traced back to the shooting script (not necessarily the script the writer actually intended). The movie I’m taking a look at this time: Terminator 3 – Rise of the Machines.

When you break it down, this really should have been a better movie than it turned out to be. The core of the story isn’t bad, though it could be punched up a little:

Act 1: An advanced mimetic poly-alloy (MPA) T-X model terminator is sent back in time to kill John Connor as well as the people who, in the future, will be his key lieutenants. A T-850 is sent back as a protector.

Act 2: The T-X acquires both John and Katherine “Kate” Brewster, but is thwarted. It’s discovered that John died in the previous future, and the person who sent back the T-850 was his wife: Kate. Kate learns of Judgment Day. John and Kate learn that in hours, Skynet will go online. They set out to stop it.

Act3: Hijinx ensue as all the forces clash at an AFB. John and Kate are sent to what they believe is Skynet’s core in a last-ditch effort to destroy it, but discover they’ve been led to a shelter from where they will start the post-Judgment Day resistance.

It’s clear that Act 3 is pretty much just a honkin’ big battle. This being an action movie, that’s pretty much what you’d expect. Act 1 sets up the story fairly well with the T-X mission statement and the side-effects of Skynet testing its infrastructure. It gets a bit shaky with the coincidental meeting of John and the girl he met in Jr. High during a kissing party. And it all starts to fall apart at about the first plot point, when the T-850 arrives in the nick of time to interfere with the T-X’s plans. The major problems begins with the Act 1 transition into Act 2 and continues onward until Act 3.

The first battle between the T-X and T-850 starts well, but then it journeys into the absurd as the T-X drives a crane and, with the distraction of the T-850, manages to destroy a good hunk of a town. Never mind the absurdity, the fact is that this action sequence is too long and not emotionally resonant enough for the first battle sequence. It’s too big. That it’s soon followed by another extended action sequence through a cemetery and hilly woods doesn’t help.

Readers of The Connor Wars know that I’m not shy when it comes to action sequences. The problem here with this extended sequence (I’m considering the two to actually just be one sequence with a small pause in the middle) is that it isn’t personal enough. It’s a chase with little more to it for our protagonists than running away. Kate is just along for the ride. As a result, it’s largely gratuitous, and that’s just a waste of expensive special effects.

The rest of the second act is pretty much dead. It’s a lot of exposition. A LOT. As a result, the story starts to engine-brake. Unfortunately, though the information is put out there, John and Kate don’t really get a lot of chance to stew about it. They aren’t given enough time. The clock on the Skynet timer was set so short that there was no suspense–just an Act 3 filled with shock-and-awe effects.

So…. how do we fix this? First, we need to change the initial locale. If John and Kate are too close to Skynet, there’s not enough of a chance for them to build the audience’s anticipation. Also, it would allow us to have an MPA terminator in new transportation situations: train, plane, boat, whatever. This gives some distance from the visuals we already had in T2.

Next, John’s meeting with Kate needs to be purposeful. If Kate’s somehow in the loop, even if she knows nothing about Skynet or Judgment Day, it raises the stakes for John and quite possibly for her. In fact, I think I’d raise the stakes even higher: send back future Kate (or someone at least as impactful) as the protector and leave out the T-850 altogether. Like T1, it would be humans against machines. (Also, I thought the T-850 was the weakest part of the film.)

I’d tone down the T-X just a touch. Many of the weapons are absurd given the lack of chemicals for fuel or explosives. I’ll buy a limited-shot plasma weapon powered internally, though even that’s a bit of a stretch.

The action has to be different. It can’t just be chase/escape. That’s what the first two movies were. There needs to be separation from the group, making it a mano-a-mano situation. Maybe Kate being in range of the T-X and future-Kate either coming to her rescue, or maybe trying to keep John on mission and not letting him rescue her younger self. There need to be planned attacks on the T-X. To do this, there needs to be enough time not only for the trip to get to Skynet, but also for our heroes to act instead of constantly reacting.

The final battle, of course, needs to be big. Huge. While I like the idea of sending John and Kate to safety, it might have been better if they did get to Skynet’s core. Unfortunately, since this Skynet has distributed itself around the world, it’s soon apparent that although the lights are on, no one’s home–John and Kate were too late. And so the Skynet core serves as their bunker to ride out Judgment Day. Future Kate isn’t with them…she’s presumed dead, but we aren’t sure.

I wouldn’t be above having the T-X rise again after JD to attack John and Kate at the tag. (This might be overkill, but could also be nifty.)

So…we’ve taken the initial concept: John, Kate, T-X, protector; spiced it with Skynet’s imminent awakening, and started a ticking clock. Same general formula but slightly different execution. Same amount of action but cut up in bits so that we don’t blow so much of our wad up front. Similar, if not more, exposition, but again, cut up in bits so we don’t have to endure it all at once. More importantly, we’ll have created a path where the audience is hanging onto the story instead of just sitting back watching the SFX.

Anyhow, that’s one way of tweaking this story to try and raise it to the next level. Maybe it would work, maybe not. You never really know until you see the final product.