Review of Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) by William T — 11 Jul 2013

The Empire Strikes Back and The Godfather Part Two are two sequels that many could argue are better than the originals. I think you can add Terminator 2 Judgment Day to that list. The Terminator was a blockbuster film and a sequel needed to be made. The story was too deep and detailed not to be made. The first movie mentioned John Connor a lot but obviously he wasn't born yet. This movie we see him as a kid and one of the most intense villains in movie history is out to kill him. Another version of the original Terminator also goes back in time to protect John Connor. We got an indestructible cyborg fighting another indestructible cyborg, yes please.

Once again the movie starts out with Arnold and the T-1000 going back in time, getting clothes and going after John Connor. The movie followed the same formula but Arnold is now the good guy, which I think is great. Arnold is given more material to work with and in the first one I said he was great as an emotionless robot and that was perfect because there was only one. Now there are two and his relationship with the kid is great. John's father is obviously dead and the Terminator plays the role as his father. Great, it worked, and I love how they even addressed is. I was a little worried about the kid because child actors can destroy a movie. I'm sorry but it's almost a proven fact but this kid worked. I didn't want to jump through the screen and kill him myself so there is a plus. The way he tried to make the cyborg "human" and gave him some personality was great because that is probably what would have done. He gives Arnold the idea of another memorable line that millions of people around the globe impersonate. "Hasta la vista, baby.".

The T-1000, this guy is awesome. The first time he kills somebody with his metallic arm sword I almost pooped my pants, really. This guy knows how to kill somebody and he is stronger than Arnold was in the first movie, and more deadly. The only reason I think he wasn't as good s because he basically acted the exact same as the first one. He played the emotionless bad guy and is the heartless robot, cool, but it's been done. I'm glad he was the way he was but I like the original better.

When we first see John he lives with his foster parents making the audience ask the big question, where is Sarah Connor? Well, she is in a mental institution and her character has been completely transformed into a crazy killing machine. She is crazy. Perfect. I did not expect that but the road they went down worked perfectly. The end of the world and the fact that her son is the only hope of the human race gets to her and she lost it. Props to the actress too for bringing this character to life. She is delusional with her seeing Reece and her dreams of the actual end of the world. The scene where she is at the park behind the fence and the bombs go off is actually scary. The first time I saw it I was scared.

One of the best moments in the movie she tries to escape, the lights go out, Arnold walks through the door in slow motion, and Sarah flips out. That entire scene was suspenseful and turned into an action packed car chase with guns blazing. I really liked Sarah in this movie and is my favorite character. I really liked the kid, Arnold was a lot better, but Sarah takes the cake. Her relationship with John is a little weak and is lacking but it's understandable because she is off her rocker.

There are great characters and the action is better than ever but how is the story? Hmmmm, better than ever. The story in the first one was so good because of the back story and learning what happens in the future so how can they top that? How about preventing the future? Yes! In T2 we learn all more about Skynet and how the end of the world happens so the whole point of the movie is to prevent Judgment Day. The idea alone is hard to wrap my brain around. I am a sucker for a mind blow and nothing blows my mind more than time and time travel.

Finally, we come to the action. The first movie had great action and special effects for the 80s and this tops that by a lot. The T-1000 takes a shotgun shell and looks like a soda can that got shot and he morphs back together like a jellyfish. I can imagine the 1991 audience with their jaws dropped, mine almost did. The Terminator is in its skin a lot more, meaning Arnold gets more screen time and the cyborg skeleton isn't fully shown. I liked that that and seeing one real eye any the creepy red eye is really cool. The car chases are better than ever and the explosions are great to. I understand John didn't want Arnold to kill people but there is one scene where Arnold is blowing up cars and using a minigun and there is no way he didn't kill anybody.

Overall, Terminator 2 Judgment Day is a goldmine. Almost everything worked and it is one of my favorite movies. James Cameron is one of those directors who can mesh action and story really well. In most, if not all of his movies he can have great characters and special effects to back it up. It is very rare a sequel can be better than the original movie but there is no question about T2 and there is no question that Terminator 2 gets the WillyT Seal of Approval.