Great Sci-Fi Classic. James Cameron Does Some Good

Rating: 9/10 (23 February 2007)

Some spoilers ahead.
This, along with "Titanic" and "Aliens", are the movies James Cameron will be most remembered for. Of those three, this is the most powerful, compelling, interesting to watch, and most beautiful. T2 is a great sci-fi story about how people can change the future for the better. A line from the movie sums up the theme: "no fate but what we make for ourselves." Cameron is also quite brilliant by taking showing character development in an android, showing its transformation from cold killer to empathetic being. This sympathetic portrayal of a robot with a soul is more compelling than another movies that attempt a similar plot, "Blade Runner."
The acting is actually very good by all of the major players. Eddie Furlong does a superb job as a teenage John Connor. He is a three-dimensional character: bratty, yet with a strong moral sense and a realization of how human actions can alter the course of future events. Arnold Schwarzenneger needs only be cold and emotionless as the cybernetic killer, and he does very well here. His only need to have emotion at the end, when his character learns compassion. Linda Hamilton is excellent as an action star, and it's a shame she hasn't starred in more movies. Robert Patrick shines as the coldly evil T-1000, one of sci-fi's best villains. He is excellent as an emotionless Terminator, and he can send chills down the spine of viewers of all ages.
The violence is not as extreme as other sci-fi movies, like the aforementioned "Aliens" franchise or "Robocop," but there is enough action and suspense to please any action fan. This movie was one of the most expensive to produce at the time it was made, but it was money well spent. This movie is such a classic that it "almost" redeems Cameron for the sappy "Titanic." Watch T2!