Wow – a sequel to a sequel twelve years in the making! John Connor (played now by Nick Stahl), the guy who will save mankind from extermination by the machines, is now about twenty-three years old and is ready for the next phase of his fated mission. If you think you’ve already seen this plot with “The Matrix Reloaded”, remember, the “Terminator” people were first.

Plus, the added attraction is that Connor gets help from one of the machines, the relentless and imposing robot played by Arnold Schwarzenegger. Programmed to save John Connor’s life, he’s dropped into the present via the old time travel machine. Arnold again shows up nude and wastes no time going to work by stopping by a neighborhood bar. It happens to be ladies night, complete with a male stripper show and Arnold fits right in. It’s a perfect start because it presents the right comedic touch. Unless you’re into endless chase scenes and smashing special effects (not that there’s anything wrong with that), the complement to all of this is the deadpan work of Arnold and his robot nemesis, the “terminator” programmed to kill John Connor. Like “Spock” in the old “Star Trek” series, they only follow preprogrammed orders and logic- leaving them confused by much of human behavior.

This time the evil robot is played by a woman (Kristanna Loken - a model in real life), and like the guy in “Terminator 2”, she’s got some upgrade advantages over Arnold. Too bad she spends most of the movie looking so beautiful though, it takes away from some of the evil you need to truly invest yourself emotionally. You might also wonder why she has to use a good old fashioned gun in a few instances when it’s clear she has the ability to get the job done much quicker and much deadlier. But I was able to suspend that flaw because, in many cases, the action scenes in this movie are eye popping and creative.

Check out the remote controlled police and fire truck chase scene with our evil robot lady trailing behind driving a massive construction crane. With Arnold hanging on for “dear life” (or is it “dear circuitry”), that baby barrels through buildings with ease. The audience shrieked – I laughed. (well, it was more like “that’s gotta hurt, but not really, he’s a machine”)

For you romantics, Connor’s Mom is gone, but we get a new female character to care about and that’s a woman played by Claire Danes. There is a real story here about how she and Connor are fated to get together and it’s all beginning to sound like the “Star Wars” movie plots, but what the heck, it fills the breaks from the action scenes. In fact, thanks to Nick Stahl and Claire Danes, two very good actors, you might actually care about the fate of mankind. Just try to ignore the conversation they have with Arnold over their futures- very confusing.

But as for me, give me more of Arnold versus the “Fembot” and I’m set. Hang on for the big fight scene when she and Arnold destroy a rest room- I think it was a men’s room because I saw some urinals, but it doesn’t matter, I found it all a hoot.

“Terminator 3: Rise of The Machines” rather shamelessly sets us up for a sequel (Nick Stahl says he’s signed on for two more), like so many movies seem to be doing these days, but I can deal with that. Of course, the big question is- did “Governor Schwarzenegger” sign on for more? How’s that going to work? Ah, let’s just live for today – I give “Terminator 3” a “7.0” on the scale.