The sequel to the 1984 original which spurred a number of
now infamous quotes such as ‘asta la vita baby’ and the reoccurrence of ‘I’ll
be back’.
James Cameron returns to the director’s chair as we re-visit Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton), nearly 10 years after she is visited by a Terminator who has been sent back in time to kill her before she can conceive her son, who is destined to become a powerful leader and strong enemy for the machines in the future.
This time, a more advanced Terminator, the T1000 (Robert Patrick) has been sent to earth in a bid to kill John Connor now (apparently) 10 years old, before he is able to grow up and become the leader of the future. Back in the future, an adult John Connor has captured and reprogrammed a Terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger) to protect him.
At the beginning of the film we’re introduced to John Connor (no age is actually given for John but we’re led to believe he is 10 which isn’t really believable), which is Edward Furlong’s first appearance as an actor. We learn that his mother, Sarah, has been locked in a mental institute for some time after she was arrested trying to blow up the building of a company who is connected to Judgement Day. Fans who have seen the first film, Terminator, will know that as Kyle Reece told her, Judgment Day will occur on Aug 29th 1997 and will see the entire human race burnt to a crisp as machines finally get smart and take over the world as we know it.
Hamilton has transformed on screen since 1984, and in Terminator: Judgement Day has been transformed into G.I Jane, having obviously packed on the muscle for the role, showing how Sarah has continuously prepare herself for the event, regardless of whether she is locked behind bars (she also appears to have not aged a day in 8 years).
Robert Patricks takes the place of the ‘bad’ Terminator, appearing on screen as the advanced T1000. Although boasting nowhere near the same stature as Arnie, there is something about Patrick’s facial expressions and demeanour which makes him almost as terrifying as Arnie was back in 1984 as the ruthless and cold hearted killer. However, he possesses the ability to also play the part of the good guy, a policeman, at the beginning of the film when he looks for John, something Arnie would never have been able to pull off in a film like this.
Arnie makes a proud return to the screen, this time as friend, not foe. As he is no longer aimed with the goal of killing everyone in sight, he is able to have more range with his acting, although still manages to play the robotic nature of the machine brilliantly, similar to T1, where is able to convey the darkness and feat that you should feel when you see him, with just a simple look.
Having died at the end of T1, fans wouldn’t expect to see Kyle Reece, but there is a touching moment when he comes to Sarah in a dream (this scene was not in the original theatrical release and was only inserted in video and DVD release), warning Sarah that she must protect their son. The dream soon changes to an image of children playing in a garden while she is cut off from them by a wire fence. She is soon realises that she is seeing the dreaded Judgement Day Aug 29th 1997 judgement day and sees everything burst into flames, waking herself up from the daydream.
What’s good about T2 in comparison to T1 is that the majority of the film isn’t spent hiding and running from the Terminator, which T1 was predominately all about. Instead, it’s focuses on the trio’s attempt to stop a terrible catastrophe from occurring with three different parties: the future, the present and the past (being the arm that Skynet collected following the termination of the T100 in T1). The T1000 is obviously going to be hot on their tracks in order to complete his mission in killing John Connor, but for a good section in the middle of the film, this aspect of the story is not the be all.
Arnie gets the chance to reprise this role but with about 1000% more dialogue that the first film which usually, would be a problem in most cases where Arnie is in a film. However, the relationship between him and Furlong is played so nicely and how they bond makes for some kind of touching viewing. This is made more so as the film comes to a close and John refuses to leave his friend who attempts to defeat the T1000 and save the boy and his mother. His love for the Terminator has grown so much in such a short space of time as he becomes a somewhat unconventional father figure, that when the Terminator dies (or rather, terminates), you can help but feel for John’s loss.
The special effects greatly surpass those which were in the first one, but its nice to see some glimmers of the retro feel T1 had, in particular, the rays of light from the weapons that are shown in the first scene of the film, and the red light pupil that the T101 sports. The effects used to create the molten version of the T1000 are amazing and armed with the many shoot outs and explosions that occur, this makes for one of the best action films of the 1990’s. The presence of similar music from T1 (mainly at the opening and ending credits) also makes for a nice addition to the film.
One of the greatest accomplishments of the film, from a geeky side, is how the special effects team managed to increase the sophistication of the ‘dummy’ T101. In T1, one of the worst aspects of the special effects (for obvious reasons, as it was 1984) were the shots where we the shot contained a dummy Terminator, rather than Arnie, allowing for his face to break away, be blown up and so forth.
At times, the resemblance was satisfactory but at others, it just showed how at that time, the technology wasn’t up to speed. The scene in T2 where the T101 sacrifices himself to an army of policemen and gets pummelled by bullets gives you a chance to see a few glimpses of the new and improved model. Looking increasingly like Arnie and with a more sophisticated metal shell of the face, this scene, compared to T1 is a great example of just how far cinema special effects had come in 8 years. This is displayed again towards the end of the film where the T101’s face breaks away as he is beaten up by the T1000 and we are presented with a half human/half metal skeleton of the T101.
One weird edition, and minor complaint, to the technology of the new Terminator is that when severely injured, he makes a bizarre high pitched howling noise...not at all sure why or what it’s meant to symbolise as Terminators are meant to be impervious to pain, as we learnt in T1, as they aren’t human and don’t have the capacity to hold human feelings. However, the T101 apparently learns to understand human emotion, embracing John before he takes his slow trip into the pool of molten, destroying all evidence of his existence.
Terminator 2: Judgment
Day may not meet the Oscar highs of Cameron’s other films (Titanic, Avatar), but you cannot deny it
is a fast paced, thrilling action film which doesn’t include too much of the
shiny crap that can be found in more modern action films. Put simply, if you
like action, explosions and seeing Arnie doing what he does best, then this is
definitely a film for your viewing.
**** 4 out of 5
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