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| Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991) |
The best thing this film does in terms of being a sequel is that it subverts our expectations. From the beginning, it appears that this film is just going to be the same story as the original, and I'm convinced this was done so on purpose, so that the real twist about what was happening to pull the rug out from under us in the most amazing way possible. I knew it was coming and I was still pumped when it happened. And, look, this film does do what a lot of bad sequels tend to do, which is make callbacks to the original as if to say "Remember that? Remember that?" But here it works, because not only do they all feel so natural (as few and far between as they are) but they never dwell on them for too long. Whenever a callback happens, it services the current story whilst also not feeling too much like a scene ripped from the original, which is something that a lot of sequels get wrong. More subversion of my sequel expectations there, and that's a big plus in my book.
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| Arnold Schwarzenegger as T-800 |
Arnie is back, just like he said he'd be, and he's even better in this film than he was in the original. The one-liners are also back in full force, and we get all the classic lines that everybody loves to quote even to this day. The T-800's new capacity for learning is explored in a really interesting way, and originally what I thought was going to be a cringe-fest ended up providing us with some great material. Linda Hamilton also returns as Sarah Connor, and they way they deal with her character might just be one of the cleverest things in this movie, since it shows that these big events leave lasting impacts on people, the same way Aliens showed how the events of the original left a lasting impact on Ripley. Here, however, they explore it a little more, and I love how it actually ended up twisting the character a little bit. She almost became all that she hated, and a bad movie would have spelled that out for us, but this movie trusts us enough to put those connections together on our own, and I love that. A lot of modern movies talk down to their audience as if they're idiots, but doing that ironically makes the movie itself less clever than it wants to be. When a movie can leave certain things unsaid, yet still show us enough to let us realise things on our own, like they did with Sarah's arc in this movie, those are the best movies.
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| Linda Hamilton as Sarah Connor |
The new characters are all really great, though there's only two that are worth talking about here, since they're the ones in the forefront. The T-1000 is frighteningly effective, and I couldn't believe that Robert Patrick ended up being a match for Arnie in terms of intimidation. More about the T-1000 later, but just know that Patrick's performance was stellar. As for Edward Furlong as John Connor... it's incredibly easy to criticise child actors because they can come across too whiny or annoying, but I though Furlong did a great job here. Is he whiny and annoying? At times, but what kid isn't? This works in the same way that Sarah Connor in the original worked: they were regular people. There's nothing inherently 'good' about John Connor, he's just a regular kid. Where he shines, however, is once he utilises his mother's training and steps into a pseudo-leadership position. Here we get to see the effects of Sarah's training, and we can tell that this kid will become the legendary John Connor one day. It's uncanny. It also helps that John and Sarah have one of the most compelling mother-son relationships I've even seen in cinema. It was just so different and unique, yet still so believable.
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| Edward Furlong as John Connor |
Alright, the T-1000. Let me get this out of the way, since it's the obvious point to make: the effects on this thing are stunning. That's the only word for it. I was stunned watching this thing in action. I have no idea how they brought the liquid metal to life in such an amazing way, but I'm so happy they did it right. Films of the 90s were notorious for their overuse of CGI to the point where none of it looked real, since CGI was relatively new and everyone wanted to use it. Here, it's used in the right places and for the right effect. There are one or two moments where maybe it was a little ambitious, but 99% of the time it's flawless. The music is also once again sublime. I could listen to that "DUN-DUN DUN DUN-DUN" at the end of the opening credits forever, but it goes beyond just being awesome. A similar melody was used in the original Terminator, but here there are a few changes. That should have been a clue as to how the movie was going to be: familiar, but bigger and better.
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| Robert Patrick as T-1000 |
Yes, I said better. Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991) was a perfect follow-up to an almost-perfect movie. It's exciting, it's thought-provoking, it's beautiful, it's even a little emotional in places. What else can I say? Watch this movie if you haven't already. If you have, then watch it again. 10/10.
Tomorrow: it's The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring.
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