Year of Release: 1991
Director: James Cameron
Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Robert Patrick, Edward Furlong, Earl Boen, Joe Morton, S. Epatha Merkerson, Castulo Guerra, Jenette Goldstein, Xander Berkeley, Danny Cooksey, Robert Winley
Genre: Action, Sci-Fi
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 8
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Synopsis and Review:
Director James Cameron followed his big budget underwater extravaganza, "The Abyss", with a return to the franchise he had started in 1984. "Terminator 2" picks up a few years following the events of the original film. Sarah Connor is locked up in a mental institution, while her son John, is now an adolescent always getting in trouble. While no one believes in Sarah's stories, Skynet once again sends a new Terminator, a more advanced one, to kill John. The human resistance once again also manages to send a protector, this time, a re-programmed terminator, less advanced than the one sent to kill John. What follows is a race to both these Terminators find their target, and successfully accomplish their missions. John's protector in the process starts learning more about being human, forging a bond both with John and Sarah Connor.
If "Terminator" was an independently financed, narrative-wise well thought out dystopian view of what the future holds, this sequel was a much bigger canvas for James Cameron to expand on the mythology he firstly introduced (not to mention "Terminator 2" had a much bigger production budget). The film was a first on a variety of levels, among them, the innovative digital effects produced by Industrial Light and Magic, which would define a new standard for all films (ILM of course developed itself at a geometric rate following the success of this film and is now one of the most well known visual effects companies in the business). James Cameron managed to refine the archetypes he built with the first film, even if for all intended purposes, this film is still very much in essence a B-movie with polished visuals. He further developed the lead characters, namely Sarah Connor, who becomes one of the figure heads of the film, this time around being a hellbent survivor, strong and also fragile, alongside the young John Connor, played by Edward Furlong. These two characters manage to really elevate the proceedings, while Schwarzenegger playing the character as the longstanding monolith, manages to be sufficiently charismatic (losing some of his menacing turn from the original film) to hold everyone's attention. James Cameron is impeccable at staging action set pieces, and this film has a series of them which are iconic and have become staples of the genre. It's a film that is deft in explaining character's motivations and dimensions, at times losing the efficiency of the first film with some sentimentality, but overall it's a finely crafted piece of entertainment. Linda Hamilton easily creates the most iconic character in the film, something she revisited once again in 2019. A very good film from an excellent storyteller.
If "Terminator" was an independently financed, narrative-wise well thought out dystopian view of what the future holds, this sequel was a much bigger canvas for James Cameron to expand on the mythology he firstly introduced (not to mention "Terminator 2" had a much bigger production budget). The film was a first on a variety of levels, among them, the innovative digital effects produced by Industrial Light and Magic, which would define a new standard for all films (ILM of course developed itself at a geometric rate following the success of this film and is now one of the most well known visual effects companies in the business). James Cameron managed to refine the archetypes he built with the first film, even if for all intended purposes, this film is still very much in essence a B-movie with polished visuals. He further developed the lead characters, namely Sarah Connor, who becomes one of the figure heads of the film, this time around being a hellbent survivor, strong and also fragile, alongside the young John Connor, played by Edward Furlong. These two characters manage to really elevate the proceedings, while Schwarzenegger playing the character as the longstanding monolith, manages to be sufficiently charismatic (losing some of his menacing turn from the original film) to hold everyone's attention. James Cameron is impeccable at staging action set pieces, and this film has a series of them which are iconic and have become staples of the genre. It's a film that is deft in explaining character's motivations and dimensions, at times losing the efficiency of the first film with some sentimentality, but overall it's a finely crafted piece of entertainment. Linda Hamilton easily creates the most iconic character in the film, something she revisited once again in 2019. A very good film from an excellent storyteller.
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