by MATTHEW HAYS

Arnold Schwarzenegger is certainly intelligent enough to have a sense of humour about his latest exercise in acting. And lord knows, he should, seeing as that old saw about laughing all the way to the bank is a perfect fit here. The man who aspires to be the next governor of California cashed a record $30-million paycheque for this sucker.

The good news is, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines is more than watchable. Despite Schwarzenegger's begging of friend James Cameron to return to round out the trilogy, the writer-director behind both T1 and T2 declined. The bad news is, his absence certainly can be felt, especially in the film's concluding sequences.

But T3 is bolstered by several very strong elements: the new, evil nemesis robot is a hot female - continuing in the Cameronesque gender-play - and there are a few very engaging and delightfully destructive chase sequences.

The fun begins several years after the last movie. Mom is dead, and Edward Furlong has been replaced by Nick Stahl, who plays the title role as a homeless fellow who worries about settling down, for fear time-travelling droids might hunt him down. Sure enough, the assassination-obsessed robots show up early on, and the chase sequences kick in time to sate the most minimal of attention spans.

Luckily, the folks behind resurrecting this franchise have kept a sense of humour a priority. There are some funny one-liners (and some tired ones too), and the way in which the naked Schwarzenegger gets his leather outfit is inspired, approaching the hilarious.

Where Cameron is really missed is when T3 approaches its conclusion. Much as I hated Titanic, I love Aliens and Cameron's first two Terminator movies a great deal; the man is fantastic at multiple-climax closures, and has treated what is probably his main running motif - the Apocalypse - with a good deal of savvy and flair. Predictably enough, T3 collaborators have left things very, very open for a sequel. Fans can get by on T3, while holding out hope that Cameron might still return to the franchise.

Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines is now playing

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