Terminator 2: Judgement Day

Often times when we hear that a movie is so terrible, it's often hard to go into that movie and not expect something terrible. In the same way though, it's often hard to go into a movie that we hear is amazing and keep expectations neutral and not be swayed by those reviews. That's exactly the problem that I have with Terminator 2. When a new Marvel movie comes out, it's easier for me to take people's review with a grain of salt and see things as neutral. It's harder when a movie like Terminator 2 has been out for 27 years and has been raved about since and not think that this movie is going to be super rad. All I can say is I tried to be neutral... I tried.

The other aspect of this review is that it has been a while since I reviewed the first Terminator film. I reread my review and I remembered that overall, I was generally underwhelmed by that movie and had a hard time understanding how the movie became such a staple in cinematic history... nd then I watched Judgement Day and it was like that final puzzle piece fell into place.

The beginning of the movie recaps the set up for the story. John Conner in the year 2029 sends Kyle Reese back to protect Sarah Connor from a terminator. But then they add that Skynet sends back ANOTHER Terminator to kill John Connor as a child but humanity sent back yet ANOTHER terminator, but one that is reprogrammed to protect a young John Connor. It's a plot that is explained well, but could be very, VERY  confusing if you think about it too much.

Now usually I'd keep the reveal that Arnold Schwarzenegger, who played the T-800 and antagonist in the first movie, is now a good guy and the terminator sent to protect John Connor a surprise, but apparently the trailers didn't keep that secret either so I'm not gonna worry about it. The T-800 comes back to protect a young John Connor (played by Edward Furlong) from a more advanced T-1000 (played by Robert Patrick). As the movie takes place years after the first one, young John Connor has been raised by a newly militant Sarah Connor (played again by Linda Hamilton) to believing that he's the "savior of the human race".

 It's important to note that Sarah Connor has done a 180 change in this film. She is no longer a damsel in distress or horror movie survivor, she instead is a guerilla warfare badass who begins the movie in a psych ward because nobody believes her ramblings. And while we know that she's right and these things did happen to her, there's  a part of the audience that should think that Sarah Connor needs some help because there is some psychological issues there. I now understand why people love this character because she is so different from her previous character and at times she's not always the good guy that she's ten times more interesting. Our natural desire is for the relationship with her and John Connor to be perfect, but you can tell that while she wants the best for him and to keep him safe, she's also torn with the desire to save the human race from the monstrosity that haunted her in the first movie.

And that brings me to John Connor.

So as a character, I love John Connor. He's been through a lot with his mother's militant training and he deep down just wants the opportunity to be a kid. He also wants a father figure and that is developed throughout the film. He's also pretty innocent and kind of funny at times. I think given that this was Edward Furlong's first real role as an actor there is credit that has to be given for a pretty good performance.

I will say though that he is kind of annoying at times. He has a very high pitch voice and his acting and dialogue can be a little too stereotypical 90's kid. To give him credit this was 1991 and Furlong basically set the bar for stereotypical 90's kid as everyone was trying to recreate his grunge hair cut and attitude, but it doesn't really make it less annoying. He's not the worst kid actor in the world and its not so annoying it ruins the film, it's just there.

They spend the movie avoiding the murderous rampage of the T-1000, a Terminator that consists of morphing liquid metal.

There are actually a lot of really creepy scenes with this character and he's clearly the best and probably the only way you could up the ante from Arnold being the villain of the previous film. But, like a lot of this film, it's hard to top what already topped a really good villain and that seemed very prevalent with later films. (I'll get into that later).

So Sarah Connor, John Connor, and the T-800 must survive the assassination attempts of this new Terminator, but more importantly investigate the source of Skynet's creation and prevent Judgement Day.

Along the way, John develops a relationship with the reprogrammed Terminator and teaches him how to be human while also developing a struggling relationship with his mother.

I don't feel like I summarized the plot of the movie nearly as well as I should have but the truth is, it's hard to really pin down what exactly made this movie work so well. In a way it's rehashing similar plot points and vibes from the first movie, but at the same time it feels like a completely different movie that you don't really need to see the first one to appreciate. Instead of a science fiction horror movie like the first one, Judgement Day is a straight up action flick with amazing gun fights, car chases, and visual effects that honestly hold up a lot better than movies that came after this one.

I know in the first movie I said that Arnold is really not that great of an actor, and I stand by that, but in this movie he's actually able to give a meaningful performance that adds a lot to what's already there.

Somehow, they are able to form this relationship between John Connor and the T-800 that I wasn't expecting. Some how they're able to turn around a character like Sarah Connor to be someone totally different from the first movie but at the same time not only better but formed as a believable stepping stone from where she was. It not only focuses on science fiction action, but it develops characters and relationships better and it's an execution of a Terminator story probably will never happen again. At least based on what we've seen and what Hollywood tends to do with old properties that they're remaking, not because they have a real interesting story to tell, but rather to reap every single idea out of existing IP that they can to make as much money as they can.

There are now less Terminator movies that I haven't seen than Terminator movies that I have seen and I never really thought I'd be at this point. Because with the exception of this movie, I've been pretty indifferent if not a little indignant of the Terminator franchise.

I don't really understand why so many creative ideas are being thrown into a franchise that has had one good movie. Albeit a really great movie, but one good movie.

Terminator 1 is okay. Terminator 2 is amazing. Terminator Genisys is a hot pile of garbage and I haven't heard anything but apathy and critique of Terminator 3 and Salvation. So why are we putting so much effort into these movies?

The other thing that blows my mind is that while this movie is good, it doesn't really lend itself to a sequel. Honestly, if Hollywood wasn't obsessed with trilogies and sequels, I'd say they should have just ended it with this movie and have a decent horror movie followed up by a great sequel. Hindsight is of course 20/20 and no one is going to stop while they're ahead, especially as ahead as this movie brought them but again I have to say, why are we continuing down this road when every movie since Terminator 2 has been a bigger and bigger disappointment?

If I saw a picture like this for a new Terminator movie almost 30 years after T2 and I didn't know it was a picture for Terminator 6 I'd be super pumped and excited to see Linda Hamilton, especially after I watched this movie and saw how great of a character she is and how much of a badass she was.

But instead I look at this and I just shrug.

Overall, Terminator 2: Judgement Day is a really, REALLY solid movie. When you start 90's action movies off on such a high bar, with few exceptions its really hard to compete with it. I'm glad I watched it, I just think I'm just bummed now because I at least understand (still don't agree) the desire to continue this franchise. I also know that if I decide to watch Terminator 3 and Salvation in its entirety, I'm just going to get even more bummed out.

Are there issues with this movie? Yes, but they're very small and the truth is, it's just a really solid movie. Do yourself a favor and check it out if you haven't.

But those are my thoughts on Terminator 2: Judgement Day. What did you think of it? Do we need more Terminator films? Are you excited for Terminator 6... if you are I am actually interested in hearing why because I don't know anybody who is. Comment and Discuss below! You can also send me your thoughts on Twitter @MovieSymposium as well as send me your requests for films I should review in the future. If you follow me on Twitter, you can get updates on future movie news and reviews coming out of this blog.

Thanks for reading.