"Terminator 2" is to "The Terminator" what T-1000 is to T-800 ...

Rating: 10/10 (24 July 2015)

My generation still remembers the impact of James Cameron's "Terminator 2", it was the new touchstone in special effects, with CGI effects that still holds up very well today while "Jurassic Park" dinosaurs make Bruce the Shark look like something from National Geographic. I challenge everybody to spot anything fake in the way T-1000 parts liquefy or turn to a blade. It looks so real and it'd better do, because otherwise, the film wouldn't work.
"The Terminator" had good but no revolutionary special effects, the story and the action wowed audiences. In "Terminator 2", one of a few sequels recognized as better than the original, the story, the action AND the special effects impressed everyone. And that simple statement deserves a second reading, it means that the movie didn't rely on special effects only, it didn't take them for granted, they had to support the story, they had to have a point. Well, they had the better point they could ever have, underlining the villain's dangerousness and invincibility. A great Sci-fi movie must be spectacular, a great thriller must have a terrific villain to allow the heroes to shine. "T2" had both and the villain was so constantly spectacular it made the chases look rather conventional, which is saying a lot. Not just thrilling and invincible, but like Michael Biehn in the first film, Robert Patrick is the 'unknown-yet-reassuring face', even more dangerous with a cop uniform.
T-1000 is not a replica of the former Terminator model, he's more sophisticated, he can take a human form after touching it, and he can turn his arms or other parts of his robotic anatomy into blunt instruments. What does that mean ? That you can burn him, freeze him and blow him to pieces, his molecular structure will slowly reassemble and, paraphrasing Arnie, 'he'll be back' to hunt you. He's programed to kill John Connor, which means that he's determined and you better not cross his path, in the better case, he'll tell you to get out from such a thing as a driving truck or a flying chopper, in the worst, he'll kill you, either with a bullet but more likely in a way you won't have to see coming. The film features countless 'ouch' moments, which are another mark of the film's greatness, its capability not to swim in the same waters than the predecessor by still recycling the same story. "Terminator 2" is to "The Terminator" what T-1000 is to T-800, same program, different technology.
The similar program is the requirement of the story. Good old Skynet victim of its own success caused robots to rebel against humans, but they were defeated by John Connor. They tried to kill his mother, and ironically, allowed his very existence, how about then killing the son directly ? When you think about it, this is an endless loop, if the mission fails again and John Connor at 13 isn't killed, they can try him at 7. As a matter of fact, they could've sent a T-1000 in 1984 right again, but the film handles this issue very cleverly. The good Terminator, T-800, played by Arnold Schwarzenegger, will not only be to protect John (Edward Furlong) and eventually kill T-1000 (that's the only way to protect John on the longer term anyway) but also prevent the whole Skynet project from ever existing. "T2" was supposed to be the one that closed the series, I wish it could have remained that way.
So what do we have ? A great villain, a denser and richer story although based on a similar plot, and a great hero. This is another aspect where the film outsmarted its predecessor, the re-casting, so to speak, of Arnold Schwarzenegger in the same role but on the other side of the coin, a robot programmed as a bodyguard, but whose contact with John Connor will teach him a few things about humanity. To have a character like John Connor gives another dimension to the story, while the first was sliding down to a touching romance, Michael Biehn and Linda Hamilton had that romantic thing about them, but this time, Sarah Connor changed, she's the bad-ass heroin we left in 1984, too concerned by the future to care for romance, let's make a sort of friendship story.
And Arnie strikes again with a tailor-made role for him, playing the same role but you can tell it's not the same character than in 1984. In fact, you could make a film with the two characters fighting each other without having the feeling it's the same actor. Fittingly, both would be listed in the American Film Institute's Top 50 Heroes and Villains, and I believe T-1000 would have deserved a spot in the villains' list. Arnold, like all the other actors, delivers one of his finest performance, served by unforgettable catchphrases. As if « I'll be back » wasn't catchy enough, "T2" had « No Problemo » and the iconic and immortal « Hasta la vista, Baby ! » The 90's feel so far away when I remember the impact the film had, not just the Sci-fi stuff, or the duel between Arnold and that killer robot trying to get John, there were the relationships, the story, the characters.
"Terminator 2 : Judgement Day" isn't a continuation, it's an improvement of a material that was already great in the first place. The good characters are still there, the new ones are more impressive, the special effects (sweeping all the major Oscar categories) were top notch, and the Pop Culture thing isn't to prove now. The film made it #5 in the American Film Institute's Top 10 Sci-fi movies, an all natural choice because the film is a school case of sequel-making. James Cameron mastering his own directorial talent had already proved it with "Aliens" : a great sequel must remind of the great stuff that was in the original while being a great movie on its own.