Terminator 2: Judgment Day
When the original Terminator roared onto the screen in 1984, it blew audiences away with its dynamic, original sci fi premise, high octane action sequences done with a low budget, and indelible performances by Arnold Schwarzenegger as the fearsome title villain, Linda Hamilton as his imperiled prey, and Michael Biehn as the impassioned hero whose mission was more than just protection. The series has gone on into the 21th century with useless sequels intended to make money and exploit the fears of a post 9/11 world, but as far as writer / director / creator James Cameron was concerned, the story ended right here with Part 2, as evidenced by a filmed alternate ending which is still optional on almost all home video versions (including the Blu Ray) as being the version of the film with that ending if you choose to watch it, and effectively destroys any need for further sequels that Cameron felt no obligation to take part in. When released in 1991, T2 was subject to a massive build up in anticipation, with its hype machine talking about its record high budget at the time and Cameron’s own insistence that the story was bigger and better. And it scored huge, making gobs of money worldwide and is still the highest grossing R rated action movie on record. Many proclaimed it better than the first, and that’s when the subject becomes open for debate: While this one upped the ante in the action and special effects department, the original had a lean, mean style to it in the way it managed to do more with less, plus it projected a brilliantly bleak, nihilistic attitude about it (especially in how it ended) about the ultimate, inevitable fate of mankind. However, the sequel takes on a different tack: It starts off appropriately enough with another sobering glimpse at the future war between humans and machines, but as the film goes on, it starts showing a kernel of hope that grows until we realize that Cameron himself actually carries a different view about the fate of mankind. The three leads from the original all return (although Biehn has a vastly reduced role), but the key factor here is Edward Furlong (literally brought in off the streets with no training for his debut role) in the role of John Connor himself, a character who was constantly talked about in the first film but now takes center stage, as Schwarzenegger arrives from the future (with a bit of early doubt about his motivations) to protect him from the killing machine sent by Skynet, The T-1000 as played by Robert Patrick, an apparent creation of liquid metal that can solidify itself at will, absorb bullets and other damage with little to no effect and can even replicate anything it touches and kill people by turning its hands into stabbing knives. And Patrick is rather dynamic in the part in his own right, taking on the guise of a police officer and using utter politeness and even charm when having to converse with humans to find out crucial information, but displaying cold, steely-eyed, calculated ruthlessness when sensing that his prey is near, and his short stature, leaner frame, and pretty boy good looks make him a nice contrast to Arnold especially when they square off, as Patrick successfully parlayed those qualities into a long career in the B action movie realm. But it’s in Furlong the film’s heart really resides, as despite some heavy criticism of his performance even today, he manages to bring some real maturity as an actor to his role, and it is he who more than anything else brings the optimism and the legitimate hope of a happy ending to the whole story. We see the humanity of the future great leader in this little boy, and the theme brought by Cameron as shown here of the value of human life can be evidenced by the fact that in this epic, 2 and a half hour plus action film, only 16 people are actually shown being killed (mostly by the T-1000). As for Hamilton’s Sarah Connor, she’s found herself locked in a mental institution tended to ironically by the same psychiatrist who had examined Reese in the first film (and whose whole purpose seems to be to help with the “cover up” of the events in the original), desperately trying to find a way to escape to be with her son, and when John and The Terminator finally do show up to rescue, she develops an instant distrust of Arnold having remembered him all too well from 1984 in one of the more interesting elements of the story. Hamilton goes all out buff for her reprise here, a lean, mean killing machine in her own right as well as borderline psychotic from the years of mental torture she has suffered since losing the man she loved while all that time knowing the horrible fate that awaits the world to the exact day it happens. As for Arnold himself, returning to his most famous (and suitable) role after having built an action resume second to none in the years since, he is able to relax and have a little bit of fun this time around, because as soon as the concept becomes clear that he not only will protect John at all costs, but in essence becomes his best friend and even father figure (as bitterly noted by Sarah when hiding out with some shady friends of hers with their own arsenal) and Schwarzenegger proves that he still has that old fashioned movie star charisma along with that menacing presence. As the film moves along, we see Cameron reveal his partial intentions for the story to act as a treatise against nuclear war (as shown by a horrific “nuclear nightmare” dream sequence) and that the real purpose of our heroes (as it should be for all mankind) is to use whatever measures possible to ever prevent such a fate from befalling us in our existence. And that theme, that of holding the key to our own fate in our hands no matter what anything or anyone who claims to know the future might say (and was touched upon in the first film as well), is what steadily builds the message and feelings of hope as the movie goes on, with the role played by Dr. Miles Dyson (Joe Morton), the scientist credited with inventing the technology whom Sarah herself targets for termination until John and The Terminator arrive and choose the more successful route of having a civil, reasonable talk with the man with it being that he is a good, well intentioned human being with a wife and kid of his own, and he agrees to help them in their mission as a result. And that is the way Cameron makes his ultimate statement in how we are all humans in this world and all humanity has the capacity for goodness (considering who the enemy is) while still making a balls out, action packed thrill ride that may not match the original in overall impact and quality, but is still rightfully remembered as a classic in its own right that will live on in the hearts and minds of action fans everywhere forever…
10/10