“The Terminator” wasn’t the first film I would have expected a sequel from, but I think “Terminator 2: Judgment Day” marks a moment in film history when the sequel became the entry point to a series for the majority of moviegoers and also became more watched and well known than its predecessor. In fact, when I was an adolescent in 1991, I met more kids who had never seen “The Terminator” but chalked up “Terminator 2” as their favorite film. Jump on that bandwagon! Jump!
Granted, I hadn’t seen either of them and yes, I saw the second one first, but always with the knowledge of the original and the wish to see it. To date, the first one is my favorite, but “Terminator 2” cannot be ignored not only as an incredible sequel, but also a benchmark for 1990s cinema and a gateway for the digital effects revolution.
The 1990s was a whimsical decade of grand illusion and prosperity. Cinema boasted huge action and effects-laden epics that cost lots of money and brought in big bucks. For a time, I figured that whole trend began with “Die Hard” in 1988, but the more I look back the more I realize it started with “Terminator 2.”
The sequel picks up some 13 years after the original. Sarah Connor, reprised by Linda Hamilton, is in a psycho ward because of her ravings about the end of the world. Her son, John, is a teen punk without much of a care in the world. When what appears to be a cop tries to murder him, he is saved by Arnold Schwarzenegger, the Terminator, sent back in time to protect him from the T- 100, played by Robert Patrick, an android that can become silver goop and reform as any inanimate object.
John uses the Terminator to liberate his mother, who understandably doesn’t trust the robotic clone of the mechanical monster that tried to kill her years ago. They decide rather than keep running, they are going to infiltrate Cyberdyne Systems and destroy the leftovers from the first Terminator and stop the evolution of Skynet and the eventual nuclear apocalypse. Remember, though – the T-1000 and every cop in Los Angeles stands in their way.
“Terminator 2” is the seminal cinematic moment of the 1990s. Every blockbuster after it owed the film something. Unlike the original, the sequel is glossy and lushly constructed with wild but beautiful action sequences that are technical marvels, yet work within the tightly written story. The writing has more humor and also more...poetry of a kind. The characters have more time to philosophize and consider the ramifications of nuclear war and the future, though some of these scenes do slow up the pacing a bit.
Starring Arnold Schwarzenegger & Linda Hamilton Directed by James Cameron Carolco Pictures - 1991 GRADE: A
The sequel admittedly does not have the raw sense of immediacy so integral to the original and with Schwarzenegger now on their side, the characters feel slightly less vulnerable, but not by much. Patrick’s T-1000 is one of the great screen villains of the latter half of the 20th century and the suspense never lets up. Yes, it is as good as the original, in some technical ways it is better, but it does lack the grit and the purely human versus machine factor of the first one.
Where the original made the statement that the only way to defeat technology is to disavow it, the sequel paints a picture of harnessing the threat and fighting fire with fire. Both are compelling ideas, but where “The Terminator” was almost frighteningly documentary-like, “Terminator 2” plays out all too closely like one of the many disposable blockbusters that followed it into the fickle decade. However, this movie should not be thought of completely in that light. For every bullet fired in the film, there are also an equal number of emotional nuances and high-minded ideas in the narrative. “Terminator 2” is a special effects action blockbuster with heart, intelligence and emotional substance, and that more than any digital effect makes it special and keeps it head and shoulders over so many other films that resulted from its success. In that respect, the movie is as rare as it is excellent.
