For once a sequel that both needed to be made and did everything you wanted it to. And more.

Rating: 9/10 (11 March 2020)

The perfect sequel experience.
When an impending doom is alluded to in the first movie, a part of you really wants to see how they actually fight it.
And this is that story. From its opening scenes of the burning playground, I'm always immediately drawn into what is really a much more powerful and emotionally charged picture than some people would want to assume. Sure we have breathtaking action sequences and machisimo but we also have a narrative of people whose lives have been torn apart by something they never chose to be part of yet still are.
The first act twist (I won't spoil it but if you've read nothing about this plot then please don't!) is sort of an obvious move but it is so cool. We get some nifty new Terminator abilities and Arnie is unforgettable as something ostensibly with no feelings but manages to really put some character into this machine (sorry, cybernetic organism). I suppose on one level it's a story about family. Not in the trite sanctimonious way, but as a much more creditable snapshot of people making the best with what they can get.
The horror movie vibe of the first one is gone along with the '80s camp. We have a progression to a new aesthetic as well as a totally new tone as this is less about the escape from the indefatigable visitor and more about a real confrontation between the ragtag group and those who would enslave the earth.
Does it sometimes push the limits of sentimentality? Sure. But I like to thing it's more about characterisation. Sarah Connor remains to be an enduringly excellent character for her strength but also her vulnerability when a lot of characters in these kinds of movies (especially the female ones) can only show one or the other. It's rather criminal Linda Hamilton never became known for much more than this.
A movie that never fails to move me.