Well, he said he'll be back.

Rating: 10/10 (13 July 2008)

My Take: Highly superior to the original, with revolutionary special effects.
The biggest, most explosive blockbuster of 1991 has finally arrived in TERMINATOR 2: JUDGMENT DAY. Packed with non-stop action, explosive special effects, pumped-up heroics and surprisingly great writing, TERMINATOR 2 was and still remains one of the most explosive action pictures in years, far surpassing its somewhat dated 1984 predecessor. When he said he'll be back, he is back. Arnold Schwarzenegger returns as the emotionless, cold-blooded (or is that no-blooded) cyborg from the violent future, sent back to earth this time as a guardian assigned to protect Sarah Conner (Linda Hamilton) and his son John (Edward Furlong) against the nearly-unstoppable T-1000 (Robert Patrick), a deadly new machine with self-liquefying properties, and help stop computer genius from starting the deadly futuristic war, Judgment Day.
The film has its share of minuses. Mostly there's Edward Furlong's fairly annoying portrayal of a street-hustling kid. His peace talk with the Terminator about not killing people is quite preachy and forced. But these few missteps are simply forgivable, considering that these are only 5 minutes (or so) worth of a mostly explosive 137 minutes that never lets up. Linda Hamilton's heroine is an improvement over the rather flat character of Sarah Conner from the original film. The new persona of her character is so much better, certainly the toughest butt-kicking female character since Sigourney Weaver's ass-kicking Rambo-with-breasts in ALIENS (also directed James Cameron). The special effects, which were revolutionary at the time, pale in comparison to today's highest achievements in special effects, but the T-1000 is still a triumph in special effects imagery.
Sequels trying to be better than the original aren't actually successful at their attempts, but TERMINATOR 2: JUDGMENT DAY doesn't just outdo its predecessor, but it still one of the better sequels Hollywood has produced, one that buries deeper to the story planted by the original instead of rehashing it. It's a perfect example of Cameron's accomplished talents.
Rating: ***** out of 5.