1991’s sequel to the Terminator is often regarded as a classic, reaching further and greater heights than the original. However, as someone who has only recently seen both films and decided to review them separately, I have the advantage of watching it without any familiarity or nostalgia, but I won’t know how it fares against its predecessor until I’ve uploaded. So, with that out of the way, let’s get started…
Terminator 2 is set eleven years after the events of the first, with the boy John Connor, future leader of humanity in the war against the machines, marked for termination by a new, more advanced Terminator model, while his mother is unable to protect him, locked up in a mental institution. Luckily, a new protector is sent back as well, but he isn’t what you’d expect…
What I like about this film is how it takes what made the original so compelling, and added to it by incorporating new elements to make the film feel fresh and unique. Sequels commonly rehash the events of the first film, but Terminator 2 decides subvert them. For example, the protagonists end up taking on much more active roles in the events, as opposed to simply surviving. Survival is still key to the story, but now there are other goals for them to strive towards as well, switching the genre further into action movie than a slasher.
The returning actors of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Linda Hamilton are the highlights for me. Schwarzenegger’s ruthless presence has not been lost from the first film, striking a balance between a cold, calculating machine, and a new, more sympathetic side. Hamilton, however, may just be the standout. Following the events of the first film, Sarah has adopted a violent, unstable and overprotective nature to try and keep John from harm, sacrificing her humanity. She is incredibly conflicted by what she has become and what she has missed out on with John, but realises the danger that they are in, and will go to any length to achieve her goals, putting her at odds with her son.
What makes the film for me is the relations between these characters. The first film is a desperate struggle for survival, and while many elements of that carry over, a lot more room is left for characterisation and individual arcs, which is what I believe makes this film commonly considered a classic.
An argument could be made that some of the tension and desperation of the original has been lost, something that I myself believe, to some extent at least. For one, the focus now being more in the realm of action alters the nature of the conflict, and the obstacles in the way of the protagonists objectives drive the stakes just as, if not more so, than the new Terminator, which isn’t quite as physical imposing or intimidating as the first. Its new set of abilities are what makes it a terrifying villain, not its appearance, which in a way does work to its advantage, as it seems far more like a regular man in its voice and mannerisms, making it a perfect infiltrator to hunt for its target in an unfamiliar environment.
Once again, the use of practical effects in the film enhance it immensely. Every action set-piece, chase or standoff is grounded in the use of real vehicles and prosthetics, which have very clearly seen huge improvements. Whenever I think about this film, a whole slew of memorable examples of this spring to mind, but I’ll save some of them for the spoiler section.
Combine this with a more cinematic and vibrant colour tone and clearer camera shots turn this into an incredibly well made film, aging far better than its predecessor and holding up to this day without needing a huge suspension of disbelief.
Even the experimental CGI work serves its purpose well, as it is only used when necessary, and is embedded in the practical work so that it never feels jarring or inconsistent.
So, I’ve explained my thoughts on this film, and compared its various aspects to the original. But is it better or worse? That is very hard to say, as while one is a masterpiece of foreboding dread, a feeling of relentlessness and a masterful way of using a slasher villain in a unique and terrifying way, the other is fast-paced, action packed, heartfelt and crafted to perfection standing the test of time as a cinematic masterpiece. Because of this, I think it only just wins out, but despite their difference, both films have the same fully realised creative vision and care put into them, so I’ll be teetering on the fence on this one. But for now, I give Terminator 2: Judgement Day a 9.5 out of 10
9.5 OUT OF 10
SPOILER SECTION
The opening twenty minutes of the film are the ultimate subversion of expectations; we are told in a narration by Sarah Connor that another Terminator had been sent back in time to kill a ten year old John Connor, and that another protector had been sent after him. We see Schwarzenegger’s Terminator fight thugs to get clothes as we did in the first film, and set off to find John, while another man, considerably smaller and more human than Schwarzenegger, does the same.
This escalates in a tense standoff, when the T-800 actually protects John from this other man’s bullets when he is cornered by both of them in a corridor. If you didn’t know about this prior to watching the film, then this is an unbelievable moment. The villain of the first film abruptly becomes one of the heroes, and the nice seeming man sent back is revealed to be a liquid metal Terminator far more advanced than the T-800 in every way. This is when you know that this will be an incredible film.
Where it could simply repeat what happened in the last film, as you’d expect it to, it reverses the roles of the two time travellers, and lets the story flow from there. It is one of the cleverest tricks I’ve seen in a film, not to mention flawlessly executed.
This opens up a whole new dimension to what we saw from Schwarzenegger in the previous film. Now we get to have characters interact with it, as opposed to having to run for their lives. This lets us understand how it operates, what it knows, and how it learns from the situations it finds itself in. Now it isn’t just a monster, but a character within its self, and seeing it develop an almost fatherly relationship with John makes for powerful moments, like when Sarah sees John happy without her and decides to go after Dyson alone, or when the T-800 has to sacrifice itself so that no future technology could be used to form Skynet.
He also allows for some really creative uses of body horror and convincing prosthetic work, like when he removes the skin on his arm in front of Dyson to reveal to him a metal skeleton, or his degradation in the final battle.
One complaint I do have about the film is the T-1000, or lack thereof, in huge chunks of the film. Whereas I always got the sense that the T-800 in the first film never stopped it its pursuit of Sarah Connor, there is an interlude of at least 45 minutes in which he doesn’t appear – from the end of the escape from the mental institution all the way up to getaway chase after blowing up Cyberdyne Systems. It should be the perfect infiltrator, disguising itself as almost anything, attaching itself to the side of police cars, never ceasing in its search for John, but with a full day in the film, and the better part of an hour for the audience, that tension faltered for me.
Take when it blended into the floor so that the security guard would step on it, and it would be able to impersonate him. The applications of the liquid metal technology it possesses are almost limitless, yet it uses this potential on only a few occasions. There should be a palpable dread that it could be any object or item around them, waiting to strike when they are vulnerable. And while everything that happened when it wasn’t on screen was compelling, I still feel that a few more cuts to it following leads to find them, or perhaps entering the Cyberdyne building during the plan and adding to the tension would make it more involved in the events of the film, and up the stakes leading up to the final battle.
The chase scenes really go above and beyond in the film. Trucks crashing off of bridges. Motorcycles breaking through gates. Helicopters flying only meters off of the road. And the best thing about it all – it’s real. This movie is a blockbuster, and as such, James Cameron went all in on action set-pieces and iconic battles, and it really paid off.
Sarah Connor has my favourite characterisation. In the last film, she became caught up in events of the future that threatened both her life and the life of her unborn son, and since then adopted a manic desperation like Kyle Reese. She does this because it is forced upon her by fate, not because she chooses to, and this is made very clear when she fails to kill Dyson. She isn’t a ruthless killer, as much as she tries to be, and her estranged relationship with her son is made all the more tragic for it.
I feel as if, ironically, she is the beating heart of the franchise, not the titular Terminator. She loses everything to the Terminator in the first film and faces the grim future with resolve. Because of this, she pushes John’s importance on him from a young age, and denies him a childhood. He resents her, and she is locked up in a mental institution. Throughout this film, she learns not to sacrifice her humanity and find a better way to reach her goals than death and violence, be the mother she was supposed to be for John, and, once they have destroyed all future technology and the Cyberdyne Labs, becomes hopeful and optimistic about what the uncertain future may have in store.
Her character reflects both films. The first is about the inevitability of this bleak future, as she changes from a naïve waitress to a weary survivor, and the second is about the hope that it may be averted, as she moves from this survivor to a caring mother, given another chance with her son.
The T-800 may carry the action of the film, but it’s Sarah Connor who carries the narrative for me.
Comments