REVIEW:
An absolute masterpiece of a movie, this one expands the story from the first film in ways that no one would have ever expected. Specifically it changes the sides of one of the main characters, a move that completely changes everything about that character except for his look.
Like the first movie, this one is again about two characters being sent back in time from the future, only this time instead of targeting Sarah Connor, the mother, they are now targeting John Connor, the son. He’s the boy who will apparently grow up to be this great military leader. Only this time the action is about a thousand times better. Not that there were any problems with the action in the first movie, but with Terminator 2 we are talking about some of the greatest action sequences of all time. Arnold Schwartzenegger firing off a rattling gun out a window as the cannon part of the gun spins around and around and rounds keep pumping out. A helicopter crashing into the back of a truck. And who can forget the metal liquid villain being frozen by liquid nitrogen and then getting shattered into a thousand pieces by a bullet.
The action is clearly state of the art. It was revolutionary for its time in the early nineties, and still holds up today. The liquid metal morphing of the villain in particular is just incredibly cool. Between him going moving through metal bars like osmosis, sliding out from inside a checkered floor, or just reforming his shape after getting shot, it all looks absolutely fantastic.
So the action and look of the film are great. But what about the characters and plot? By changing the side of that one character, we get a whole new approach to the familiar story from the first one. And this time instead of man vs machine, it’s machine vs machine. Terminator vs Terminator. We also expand on Sarah Connor’s story to see what has become of her, and how the events of the first movie have drastically altered her life. It’s all incredibly interesting.
The first act is all about John Connor and the Terminators trying to find him. The second act is about Sarah, from rescuing her to her secret stash of weapons. The third act is about a character named Myles Dyson and why he is so important to the outcome of the future. And the final act is about the Terminator as the hero and villain go head to head over and over again. The way the story evolves to get to that third act about Dyson (the intellectual act,) before getting to its final act about action and destruction is pretty terrific. Especially with the transition between these acts being the destruction of the building that houses Dyson’s lab. And then of course we have that great scene where our villain breaks through a helicopter windshield and oozes himself into the seat of the vehicle. There is so much to like about this movie, starting with the very first action scene, a car chase of motorcycle vs semi truck, and a shotgun twirling Arnold. What a powerhouse of a movie.