"Terminator 2" remains a great classic of cinema, amplifying elements of action, science fiction and terror in an instigating story full of anthological moments

Rating: 9/10 (22 May 2020)

James Cameron had already managed to raise the bar for a powerful franchise, but he hadn't created it with "Aliens (1986)" and decided seven years later to make the film sequence that elevated him to one of the biggest names in Hollywood. After the revolutionary first film that brought science fiction with a new, frightening and, above all, credible premise to the public, the time came to raise the concepts previously discussed to a new level. The film remained paused for a time, because of Schwarzenegger's busy career and problems with franchise rights, disputed by the original distributor Hemdale and the producer Carolco. After Carolco bought the rights in 1990, Cameron finally signed on to do T2 in March 1990, without even having a script ready. The feature film was the first of what would be James Cameron's hallmark, the extravagance in writing, producing and directing films with large budgets, as could be seen in the following years in "Titanic" and "Avatar", which for a long time were the two biggest box office in the history of cinema.
Transforming the villain from the original film into the hero of the sequel was just one of James Cameron's many hits in Terminator 2: The Final Judgment. Arnold Schwarzenegger was one of the biggest stars in Hollywood at the time and it was simply impossible to imagine him out of sequence, especially with the actor's great interest in participating in the feature film. Resolving the hero issue, the gap of a major villain was left open. And the second production hit came up, with Robert Patrick's lineup as the unbeatable T-1000. Far from having the same physicist as Schwarzenegger, the robotic nemesis of the T-800 was gaining strength as a more advanced technology. And this technology, created from an extremely versatile liquid metal, was presented to us with cutting edge visual effects, making us believe that it was possible for a threat of that magnitude to face the big Austrian.
In general, the sequences of great action or fiction films try to be bigger and more spectacular than the original. Usually, this ends up generating films that cannot get close to the original. "Terminator 2" is one of the exceptions to the rule. Estimated at an estimated $ 105 million (most expensive film in history until True Lies, coincidentally also directed by James Cameron and starring Arnold Schwarzenegger), against the 6.5 million Terminator budget, until then, it was the longest running most ambitious and most successful in the history of cinema. Cameron can keep the main names of the technical team and with an evolution in visual effects, in short, some ideas that would take the story forward could be put into practice. Here, Cameron, who wrote the screenplay with William Wisher, manages to broaden the concepts passed with parsimony in the previous film, now focusing all efforts on the trio of protagonists, the T-800 model, Sarah and John Connor.
As well done and original as the first film could be, this multiple continuation in quality each item. The clash between the exterminators and the background of the mother separated from the hospitalized son trying to keep herself healthy in front of everyone, take the film forward. Sarah's bow matches exactly what had been presented. After the events of the first film and the fact that she defeated the exterminator in a hydraulic press was concealed by the company, Sarah became obsessed with the story that the son she had could lead humanity in a rebellion against the machines in the future. She then became involved with anyone who could teach her and especially her son John, how to deal with weapons and be a leader, until one day she was caught and committed to an institution because of her speech about the ending. world, doomsday, when machines will take over the planet. Her son, John Connor, strides to become a juvenile delinquent, even at a young age, after being separated from his mother. When faced with the T-800, John, who until then did not believe in his mother's madness, realizes that she was right and devises a plan to free her from the institution. This is just the beginning of an adventure that will put the dangerous and cold T-1000 of the increasingly human T-800 on a collision course. Linda Hamilton's Sarah Connor, from an ordinary girl and frightened by the scenery that was designed for her in the first film, became an authentic warrior, wielding weapons and fearless as expected from the mother of the future Resistance leader.
We have a much safer and more convincing Arnold Schwarzenegger as an action hero. The Austrian is the main predicate of this continuation, managing to give a certain humanity to the T-800, without letting the character become a pastiche in relation to the original. There are jokes that work well and even though he seems a bit childish in serving as the bodyguard for young John Connor, they do not differ from the overall mood of the film. The boy Edward Furlong delivers a canny John Connor, a rebel in transition to adolescence, but also full of charisma and intelligence. Meanwhile, Arnold enjoys playing the symbol of the franchise, but this time, replacing all the relentlessness of the previous film with the goal of protecting the future leader of humans. The interaction of the two characters works so exquisitely that it is impossible not to connect emotionally with the relationship between boy and monster. In addition, "Hasta la Vista, Baby" joins I'll be Back as one of the memorable and repeated phrases. In addition, we have an extremely dangerous villain in the figure of Robert Patrick thanks to liquid metal technology, which makes his actions somewhat unpredictable. The cyborg brings the necessary sense of danger and urgency, making the public fear its intense presence through the movement and antics of the T-1000. The fact that it is more advanced than the T-800 model establishes an oppositional character, as if Exterminator 2 were a clash between old and new spectral effects.
Cameron shows his best form, filming great action sequences while developing the plot and the relationships between the trio of protagonists. It is interesting to see how the film is assembled in small arches, with each action scene being well prepared before it occurs. The initial rhythm is mind-boggling and goes on a crescendo until the director slams the brakes and then accelerates until the end of the film. The director still provides us with memorable action scenes like the meeting between the exterminators at the mall, the initial chase - entitled to a truck plummeting from an elevation, Sarah Connor's escape from the asylum and the Cyberdyne invasion, the chase involving trucks, cars and even helicopters through the city streets and all the decisive climax in a molten steel factory put this feature as one of the most electrifying action films of the 1990s.
On the technical side, Industrial Light & Magic was responsible for taking care of the visual effects, which resulted in work that has not aged practically since 1991. Although it makes great use of computer generated effects, the practical effects have not been abolished and have been idealized by Stan Winston and his company. The late makeup magician and his team possibly delivered their best work of all time, including being recognized with an Oscar, as well as the visual effects. Stan Winston School of Character Arts, responsible for most of the costumes and other elements of the film's production, used manual molds to bring some of the most striking moments of the film to life, as in the case of the villain, model T-1000. To allow this malleability of the character to be realistic enough, the studio built dozens of carefully sculpted and detailed models to be used during filming, meaning that most of the supposed special effects you saw in the cinema were actually very puppets well done that emulated the actor Robert Patrick being split in half or melting. This allowed director James Cameron to offer a visual realism that the effects obtained at the time had not yet achieved.
The soundtrack, once again, was in charge of Brad Fiedel, who reinterpreted themes from the 1984 film and energized the new tracks to rise to the frenzy of the action. The sonority speaks exquisitely with impeccable visuality, from the setting of the War of the Future to the nightmare scenes, as well as the anatomy of the exterminators, all dictated by vivacious photography with the support of the sumptuous Fiedel soundtrack.
James Cameron evolved the story to the boiling point, establishing a mythology of its own taking the experiment with special effects and action to its peak, filled with breathtaking pursuits. To this day, he is worshiped as the "Godfather" of action films, as well as one of the first blockbusters to highlight female empowerment at a time when Hollywood did not even dream of it. Winner of 4 Oscars and realized as the final chapter of the saga, Terminator 2: The Final Judgment closes the ideas started in 1984 very well. James Cameron even recorded an ending with an elderly Sarah Connor, closing possibilities for continuations, but not included it at the request of the studio. As the creator does not rule his creature, the series left the hands of the director and won sequences that, if they are not totally disposable, never get close to the two original feature films. "Terminator 2" remains, even almost three decades after its release, a great classic of cinema, amplifying elements of action, science fiction and terror in an instigating story full of anthological moments. Acclaimed by expert critics, it is still listed by critics, viewers and specialized organizations, such as the American Film Institute, as one of the best films in the science fiction and action genre of all time. It is also seen as one of the best sequences in cinema.