First Action Hero

Rating: Null/10 (5 June 2000)

Admittedly, Arnold Schwarzenegger is not the greatest actor and James Cameron is not the most subtle director, but in this movie, both factors were completely irrelevant. Arnie is, of course, best remembered for his reprisal of the role of the Terminator, and perhaps this is because it is the only role in which he can pass himself off as a decent actor. Nonetheless, he is entirely convincing throughout, his robotic grit and painless determination underlined by the omnipresent special effects. With the possible exception of "Jurassic Park," the special effects unleashed in T2 are unsurpassed in modern cinema; they are so ubiquitous within this movie that they sucked up almost half of the enormous $200m budget.

The weak link is undoubtedly the lamentably poor acting ability of Edward Furlong as John, although many of the other actors are so convincing that Cameron was able to gloss over the failure pretty successfully. Cameron's ex-wife, Linda Hamilton, plays an entirely different Sarah Connor in the sequel; there is more brutal and emotionless determination than before, which I thought was a realistic portrayal of a woman trapped in a cross-time battle to avert the end of the world. Top marks to the casting managers, who found little-known actor Robert Patrick for the part of the TX1000. His on-screen presence alone exudes a sense of menace, and this is remarkable considering he has very little dialogue.
Unlike many other sequels, this was better than the original. Its plot wasn't so unbelievable as to make it sound like it was written solely to make more money. It is unique for an action movie because of its feasible plot, its quality acting and its ability to maintain the attention of its audience with its series of unpredictable twists and sheer suspense. 8 out of 10.