Shocked by how much I enjoyed this.

Rating: 9/10 (3 July 2003)

As has been said time and time again, I went in with a low expectation, and came out blown away by how good of an action film this was.
I could go into a detailed commentary on the film, but instead I think I'll just make a few points.
The comedy was definately over the top at times. Frankly I loved it.
Some have critiqued the TX's design as being more primitive than that of the T1000. These people may be forgetting the T1000's drawback. The T1000 can not transform itself into a weapon. It can't form projectile weapons out of itself. By combining the liquid metal with an android skeleton, we come up with an interesting mix. It can repair itself in the manner of the T1000, albeit it with some limitations. However, it gains the ability to create weapons out of itself. That arm cannon was absurdly powerful. The flamethrower was a tad weak I'll admit, but that was a secondary attack.
Something I want to note that I don't think many people pick up on in T2. When Arnold is lowered into the molten steel, the chip and arm from the first movie were destroyed. Interestingly though, when Arnold was lowered, he had one arm. The other arm was ripped off by a gear. That arm was left behind, in the gear. This is just a theory of mine, but I always wondered what happened to that arm. Interestingly, on the general's desk we find a metal Terminator hand. Could there be a connection here?
I did want to briefly comment on the death of Sara Connor's dream that the future is something we can create out of free willed choice, and not deterministic. It's sad to think that everything is predestined to happen in a certain way. I hope in the next installment of this franchise, which now seems to be a certainty, that they find a way to return free will to the story.
The idea of Skynet being software as opposed to some sort of mainframe was very intriguing. It makes the reference to Pandora's Box by the general much more compelling. There was literally no way to put Skynet back in the box after it was unleashed. There are several versions of the Pandora's Box myth. In one version, only one virtue is left within the box, without which humanity would surely have been crushed by all the evils it had unleashed. Hope. Hope here is personified in the form of John Connor and Kate Brewster.
I'd give this film.. oh.. 4.5/5.