One the action genre's few true masterpieces

Rating: 10/10 (30 July 2008)

The Terminator was a great film built around a great concept, but it was constrained by its small B-movie budget, making it look dated today. Terminator 2 expanded on the concept hugely, and for once a massively bigger budget had only a positive effect on the film. The special effects in 1991 were ideal - not too cheap or understated, but also not too overblown or all-encompassing as they usually are today. Because of this, and the enormous attention to detail with which Cameron directed, T2 looks fantastic today and doesn't seem dated at all.
The action scenes are superlative throughout. Essentially, the plot dictates that T2 is essentially an extended chase film - but the plot is complex, convincing and unpredictable, aided by a fantastically deep script where the characters form an unlikely family unit and discuss time, war, fate and parental responsibility amid the gunfire and explosions.
T2 contains an amazing blend of intelligence and visceral thrills which only a tiny number of films have captured as well as this. Satisfying action fans and fans of serious drama and sci-fi, T2 is a masterpiece of action and sci-fi cinema and a timeless classic. Absolutely essential viewing.