Overview: Often sequels are just made to cash in or earlier successes with a rehash of the existing story. To Cameron’s credit, he comes up with an entirely different take from the original Terminator movie, yet still maintains some level of believability to the story. Cameron certainly ratchets up the FX, but doesn’t forget the essentials that made us love the original (a well told story). Arnold Schwarzenegger returns as the Terminator, but this time he’s the good guy. Sarah Conner’s transformation from the girl next door to toughened soldier, willing to do anything to see to her son’s viability and stopping the enemy.

The Story: In Terminator 2: Judgement Day (T2), over 10 years have past since the events of the first movie, and the Skynet from the future has made one last attempt (um, well, until T3, that is – I believe the final last attempt will be Terminator versus Predators) to destroy John Conner. This time, they have skipped the “retroactive abortion” ploy, and are targeting him directly. This time, they are sending a more advanced unit – the T1000 – an android made out of liquid metal. The T1000 has the ability to copy virtually anything it touches, but prefers to assume the form of a police officer (Robert Patrick) to aid in its pursuit of John Conner.

John Conner of the future, in a desperate attempt to save the gains made, captures, reprograms and sends back Cyberdyne Systems model 101 (Arnold Schwarzenegger) to protect John Conner in the past. His primary mission is to ensure John Conner’s survival by any means necessary. A secondary aspect of his programming states that he must take orders from John Conner.

John Conner is currently living in a foster home, as his mother has been committed to an insane asylum by the good Doctor Silberman (Earl Boen). Now, disenchanted to learn that his mother has basically fed him a fantasy his whole childhood, he has become a troublesome youth. He spends his time stealing money from ATMs, jerking off with friends, and playing video games.

As the plot evolves, the familiar chase and pursuit feeling from the first movie returns, only this time we get the added benefit of Terminator on Terminator conflict. John Conner eventually hooks back up with his mother, and they decide to make an attempt to eliminate Cyberdyne Systems in the present, thus, eliminating the apocalyptic future that awaits the human race. Unfortunately, the T1000 has other plans.

The Acting: The most impressive aspect of T2 is the personal training Linda Hamilton put in to make her transformation to a soldier absolutely believable. She really looks the part, and for a short time, almost comes across as a terminator-like powerhouse. Her acting is also spot on, as is Edward Furlong and Schwarzenegger. Robert Patrick puts in a serviceable job as the T1000, but still pales in comparison to Schwarzenegger’s character in the original. Joe Morton is also decent as Cyberdyne System’s top scientist, Dr. Miles Dyson.

The FX: T2 is remembered for raising the bar on CG enhanced FX. Cameron transformed the T1000 into almost as large a phenomena as Schwarzenegger’s Terminator became in 1984. The liquid metal effects had the benefit of looking ultra-cool while not requiring the detail necessary for facial features. In this way, Cameron really played to the strength of the available technology. However, over time, as FX have continued to evolve, the impact of the T1000 has been significantly diminished, while the original Terminator is more embedded in our psyche than ever.

The Bottom Line: While T2 is a very well made film, personally, I still like the original lots better. Simply put, the movie is a very well made sequel, and still includes the best android fight on film. But in my mind it’s not nearly as sophisticated in terms of the whole Time Travel angle, and worse, it invalidates a key part of the original story – that nobody goes through after the first pairing. One wonders why they Skynet of the future didn’t just send the T1000 back to the same time as the first movie – then they’d have 2 Terminators pursuing Sarah Conner (or 3, 4, or 5 depending on how many Terminator movies we finally end up with). Still this is a minor point, and I know of many who disagree with me about the original being better.

T2 Page 2: More Screencaps–>>