Ah, Ahnold

Rating: 8/10 (28 April 2006)

He's buff, stone-faced, and genuinely scary in this movie- my first thought at the end of this movie was "He'd make a good governor of California." Well, perhaps not. But it's hard to imagine The Terminator without Schwarzeneggar (I attempted to spell it without looking), and maybe that's only because the Terminator and Arnold have become synonymous since 1984. You can't think Terminator without thinking "Ah'll be back." Of course, I wasn't even born in '84, so I don't really know how the movie was received before he became a cultural icon, but from the perspective of a 16-year-old here and now, I think it's a great movie.
When you ignore the fact that now Ahnold is and always will be the Terminator, you can see that he really was good in the role. Sure, there isn't much for him to do- he talks in monotone, glares, and flexes- but his build, his accent, his face, everything about him was built for playing a robot- excuse me, cyborg. Kyle Reese would yell at me for being so glib.
The hero of the movie, the aforementioned Kyle Reese, is played by Michael Biehn, who has a few shining moments, but doesn't really impress for the rest of the film. Linda Hamilton, on the other hand, shines throughout the entire movie as a young woman whose entire life turns upside down. She doesn't do the girlish freakout, a clichÃ© that has grown really old, probably even by 1984; instead, she focuses on the fact that her life depends on every move she makes- while still showing fear. Hamilton pulls that off magnificently, despite a script that throws a few cheesy lines her way, thought she handles the cheese a lot better than Biehn does.
I may sound pretty critical so far, what with the cheese and my disappointment with one of the main stars, but the truth is, despite those flaws, the rest of the movie delivers. Some people say this movie has an anti-nuclear-war message- I say, sure, for maybe five minutes. This isn't a message movie- it's a thriller, full of meaty action that really does thrill. The whole movie is basically a chase scene, but the chasing is gripping and creatively laid out. The only other James Cameron film I've seen is Titanic, and with these two movies I can tell that Cameron is very good at engaging the audience in intelligent action. The plot line is as creative as the action with its detailed mythology and harrowing climax. I don't want to ruin any of it though, because it's really a good story. Just see it, and you'll understand.
It's a fun movie, and by now has been raised into the classic zone. And after seeing it a few times and not tiring of it in the least, I can see why.