Big Blockbuster Sequel Done Right.

Rating: 8/10 (11 July 2014)

The special effects are incredible. It's funny how I said that as a kid over a decade ago, and that still ultimately sums up the movie for me. James Cameron pioneered an incredible franchise on a shoestring budget, and to see what he's capable of with a large sum doesn't end up sacrificing too much of the series quality.
Considering how tense the direction of the first movie was by being a slasher "Tech-Noir" movie, that was slapped with an 18 rating. "T2" ended up a 15, mostly to what I imagined as getting as many people in the seats as possible. Which is fair enough as they finally put big money into the picture. I bring this up because ultimately I saw this one first as a kind of "initiation", to be able to convince my parents to let me see the first one.
Well age has hardened me, and I have to admit this movie still remains a classic. But I began to prefer the likes of the first movie more over time. Edward Furlong infuriates me now as an adult, and Linda Hamilton puts in a very well albeit over acted performance. It's obvious from the start both Arnold Schwarzenegger & Robert Patrick will have to hold the movie together, and they really do. Both characters become titans, and the make up effects be it real or digital is just insane.
What can I say about the plot? Bad terminator comes from future to kill John Connor, so bad terminator from first movie gets reprogrammed into good terminator to save him. In their way stands motorways, mental hospitals, corporations and steel mills. Stick in some "Guns & Roses", and it all absurdly works. Other than that, it's wonderful and silly but it feels overall smart. This is a great bar to what blockbusters should be, and James Cameron constantly manages to reinvent his filmography without having to rely on too many old tricks. They even adapted it into a highly rated theme park ride for gods sake.
Final Verdict: It was a movie that made me want to make robots as a kid, and one of those sequels which really define the genre. 8/10.