Why can't all blockbusters be as good as this one?

Rating: 9/10 (29 August 2006)

(r#58)
Mission Impossible III. The Da Vinci Code. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. They all have one thing in common. Not a soul will remember them fifteen years from now.
What is it with the forgettable blockbusters? When you're handed a million dollar budget, why not aim for perfection rather than mediocrity? Why not try to create something brilliant, like Terminator 2?
The original Terminator is an absolute classic. It's the ultimate horrifying thriller, a brilliant science fiction/time travel story, a strikingly plausible, paranoid vision of the future, and features some of the most classic scenes in history. The movie has had such an impact on pop culture and action movies in general, it deserved a sequel that matched its greatness. Trust James Cameron with a $100,000,000 budget to create the most impressive action movie ever made. With the highest movie budget at its time, Cameron didn't need to limit his vision. As a result, T2 is a far more spectacular movie than its predecessor; what it lacks in the intensity, suspense and paranoia of the original, it more than makes up for with its brutal, explosive action sequences, an ingenious script, effects that look convincing to this day, and powerhouse performances from a fantastic cast.
All the regulars have returned from the first movie. Linda Hamilton, who as Sarah Connor evolved from your average damsel in distress to a focused leader in the original Terminator, brings new depth to her character as John Connor's mother, who has now been institutionalized at a mental hospital. Arnold Schwarzenegger, probably *the* movie star of the eighties and nineties, owns every inch of the screen with his performance as the titular character. Earl Boen is funny once again as the pathetic Dr. Silberman. The new cast members include a young Edward Furlong, who makes for a slightly annoying teen-aged John Connor with an extremely nineties' hairdo, Robert Patrick, his menacing screen presence perfect for the role of the T-1000, and Joe Morton as a geeky scientist (whatever happened to that guy, anyway?)
What made James Cameron stand out from the Hollywood league of cookie cutter directors is that he refused to go the safe way and simply make T2 a big-budget rehash of T1. Instead, the focus is on script and story development as much as on stunts and effects. The result is nothing short of popcorn movie perfection. The story is further developed and more complicated than in T1, the characters have more depth, Arnold gets bigger and meaner action scenes and cooler one-liners. The score is heavy and powerful and perfectly sets the tone for the movie. The film is shamelessly bad-ass - who can forget Arnold walking out of the bar as 'Bad to the bone' roars in the background? But it is also surprisingly tender in places and showcases brains and heart as well as violence and suspense.
Some will argue that this movie actually outdoes the original, but I don't know... they both succeed so brilliantly at what they tried to do, but they're so vastly different it's hard to really compare them. Still, you can't beat Arnold tearing Bill Paxton's heart out for calling him an a-hole!
In the end, this is just pure entertainment, and should be viewed by everyone. An action classic if there ever was one. Forget the weak third part (Arnold only did it for the money, anyway), T2 and its predecessor will always be the *true* Terminators!
Hasta la vista, baby!