Logan Sork Film Reviews
Terminator 2: Judgment Day
The first Terminator film was a low budget risk that turned into an overnight success. It launched the career of director James Cameron and boosted Arnold Schwarzenegger’s already growing career. Fans of the original wanted a sequel, but there were some technical limitations preventing Cameron from reaching his true vision. After directing Aliens and The Abyss, however, Cameron felt it was time to revisit the sequel. The pressure was on to produce a film that was not only as good as the first one but one that would top it. Well, in all that pressure, James Cameron managed to produce the stunning diamond of a film.
Terminator 2: Judgment Day is once again directed by James Cameron and is the sequel to The Terminator. The film stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Robert Patrick, Joe Morton, and Edward Furlong. The story picks up several years after the events of the first film, with Sarah Connor having been incarcerated due to her crazy stories about time-traveling robots. Her son, John (Furlong) is living in the care of foster parents but will soon grow up to lead the human resistance against the artificial intelligence known as Skynet. With the previous Terminator having failed to kill Sarah Connor, Skynet sends an upgraded Terminator (Patrick) to kill John. The resistance learns of this plot and sends back a reprogrammed Terminator (Schwarzenegger) tasked with protecting John. With the fate of humanity’s future at risk, the machine must find John and kill the other Terminator, lest all of humanity face the wrath of judgment day.
Thanks to the increased budget over the first film Terminator 2 vastly improves upon the action sequences. While the ones from the original are still pretty good, they pale in comparison to the ones present in this film. Thanks to Cameron’s strong direction, the action sequences in this film are second to none. Using well-choreographed stunts and fantastic set pieces as backdrops, Cameron makes each sequence feel larger than life. There’s also a wide variety of action sequences as well ranging from high-speed chases to pulse-pounding shootouts. And even when there is more than one of a certain type of sequences (say a chase) Cameron makes them different enough from one another that they feel like they don’t feel stale. Thanks to all of this, Terminator 2 is widely regarded as the best action film of all time. And quite frankly, it’s hard to argue with that.
Another area that has been improved upon is the special effects, both practical and digital. In the practical effects department, effects legend Stan Winston once again returns to provide some truly eye-catching practical effects. The apocalyptic scenes showcasing terminators at the full state of their power is particularly great. Each machine in this scene is a practical skeleton puppet, yet they move so gracefully you would assume they built actual robots. The makeup on Schwarzenegger is also much more convincing this time around, allowing you to clearly make out the details of us endoskeleton as he is damaged throughout the runtime. The film was also one of the first to employ heavy use of CGI to create the T-1000, a liquid metal Terminator capable of shapeshifting into other people and objects. The effects for him are not only visually interesting but also hold up quite well, especially when compared to today’s CGI. With this, the film is not only extremely entertaining but also important given its contributions to movie special effects.
But what really makes this film vastly superior to the original is its heart and its ideas about family. The group of characters in this film are truly wonderful on their own, but it’s the way in which they develop together that makes it so endearing. There is a familial bond that grows between the character, particularly between John Connor and the Terminator. As the film goes on, we see little interactions between them in which John tries to teach him to be more human. These interactions not only lead to some great comedic moments but also build a heartwarming relationship between the boy and the machine, leading to some great emotional moments. If these characters weren’t as endearing, the action wouldn’t be as entertaining as it is. Cameron understands this gives the characters a time to grow on you, leaving you hoping that they’ll make it out of these scenarios. It is this heart and connection that many action films lack these days, making T2 a special breed that is hard to find these days.
Terminator 2 is a nearly flawless film. Not only is it one of the best sequels of all time, but it’s also certainly up there as one of the best action films ever made. It takes everything that made the first one so great and dials it up to an 11. The action is top-notch, the effects are groundbreaking, and the characters are filled with heart. It’s rare to find a film that can entertain you as good as it can pull on the heartstrings in this modern era, but thankfully, we will always have this fantastic film.
10/10