I'll Be Back... Two!!!

Rating: 9/10 (9 June 2015)

In 2029, the battle rages on between killer machines and human resistance fighters. In a plot to eliminate John Connor, leader of the rebellion, the machines sent a Terminator back to 1984 to eliminate his mother, Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton). When that failed, the machines sent one more. This one about thirteen years later, to eliminate John himself while still a child. This time around, the resistance chose to send another protector: a re-programmed Terminator T-800 (Arnold Schwarzenegger). Flashback to '97 (though filmed in '91), John Connor (Edward Furlong) is a disrespectful, foul-mouthed, little punk. As for Sarah, gone is the mousy woman from the first film. She's now a hard-as-nails survivalist. Because she tried to blow up a computer company, she got put into a mental institution. With steely determination, the new Terminator, T-1000 (Robert Patrick), tracks down and attempts to kill them both. But the T-800 proves quite a worthy defender! Building upon the original movie, Terminator 2 goes further into the back story of how Judgment Day came around. As well as the scientists responsible for the fateful events. The relationship between the three central characters is at turns touching and even heartbreaking. Personally, I got a little tired of John's wise-ass attitude after a while. And perhaps Sarah's tough persona was a little too violent and unstable at times. But the movie does have some thought-provoking comments to make on technology gone awry, and man's inevitable slide into self-destruction. Visual effects have never been put to better use, especially in regards to the T-1000, who has the ability to morph itself into virtually anyone. My only real complaint is with the re-issued special edition that adds about thirty minutes of footage back in. Some of the extra stuff seems unnecessary. But apart from that, this film is pitch-perfect. Representing the best that sci-fi/ action has to offer!