Spectacular Sequel that symbolises sci-fi movies of the early 1990s

Rating: 9/10 (24 July 2014)

One day when I was 13 I purchased a copy of T3 and watched that same evening. Inspired, I promptly bought T2 the very next day, knowing it was a massive box-office hit when it was released in cinemas back in 1991. It didn't leave much of a long-term impact on me, but at least I can say I watched one of the greatest, if not the greatest, sequels in science-fiction history.
After failing its mission in T1, another model of the T-800 class sent back in time to kill Sarah Connor, the mother of resistance leader John Connor in the first film before John is even born, is this time sent to protect John, now having become a rebellious adolescent with less-than-pleasant foster parents living in 1990s LA, while Sarah is stuck in what is effectively an asylum, often found working out, preparing for the next encounter with the machines.
Another Terminator is also sent back to kill John Connor, and if you thought the T-800 from the first movie was hardcore, the T-1000 is even more of a mean machine. Not only does it possess the murderous super-strength of the T-800, but it is also made of colour-changing liquid metal, so that like X-Men's Mystique, it can transform into any adult-sized human being and assume its identity, while the T-800 is stuck (unashamedly) in Arnie mode.
The battle between the two robots from the future will ultimately, indirectly, decide the fate of humanity. While the T-1000 kills anything which stands in his way, the T-800 not only protects John (and will also protect other people, since it will only obey John's orders) but also acts like a father figure towards the boy, since John's biological father, Kyle Reese, sacrificed himself at the climax of T1, before John Connor was even born. This is one of a few ways in which this movie is revolutionary.
The CGI visual effects, for 1991, were unbelievable for audiences back then. They made the T-1000's abilities look so real, so scary, but damn cool and made the movie appear to be so far ahead of its time. Terminator 2 won 4 Academy Awards, including best Sound Effects and Visual Effects (Zero surprise there...).
As for the cast, Arnold Schwarzenegger is the perfect role for the robotic cyborg that is the T-800. The not as well known Robert Patrick is equally chilling as the T-1000, while Linda Hamilton as Sarah Connor and dÃ©butante Edward Furlong as Sarah's son John provide very intense performances as the human protagonists. As it turned out, for the four actors mentioned, the film would arguably mark the prime of each of their careers.
Although the film will be a harmless experience for most adults, it can become a bit too bleak. Being a squeamish fellow, some features of the movie were disturbing for me when I saw T2 aged 13 (Judgement Day has an R rating in America and a 15 rating in the UK), such as the way the T-1000 brutally murders people with his morphing liquid metal body, or the petrifying 'nuclear nightmare' scene. I spent days, if not more than that, a little haunted by what I had watched. But I watched without regret. When the T-800 stated 'I'll be back' in the first movie, he did indeed come back. With a bang, just like this film.
5 star+