Review of Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) by Phillip D — 11 Jul 2015

Terminator 2 stands at the crux for Cameron. Arguably his last great film, the movie is often held as proof that Cameron truly is a great director, as opposed to an effects genius and talented copycat with too much money and power.

The argument can ultimately swing both ways, as T2 is really a fantastic film, even if it does begin to show the logical cracks that would destroy the Terminator franchise. The film offers another great cast and a slew of groundbreaking special effects sequences that would fit themselves into the pop culture for years to come.

Arnold is once again, fantastic in a quite clever reverse role, while the villain is a successful upgrade, even if his abilities seem to often convenience the script. The primary issue seems to be the over-focus on the mechanics of the story, which abandons the uber-simplistic and minimalist premise of the first film as it attempts to world build for a franchise that probably had no business going anywhere after this film.

The results are still fantastic and utterly watchable but for a critical thinker, the demise of Cameron's career as a good filmmaker (as opposed to the rich man's Michael Bay) can be seen here in T2, which tried perhaps a little to hard to set the stage and one up its predecessor.