3 out of 5

Director: James Cameron

While it’s certainly more even that the original, Terminator 2 still runs on a bit as Cameron incorporates the T-1000 + T-101 setup from his initial concept (that was whittled down into Terminator’s solo cyborg thanks to effects and budget constraints at the time) and then spends the extra screentime he’d earned as a bankable director to prove that he’s not remaking the same film.  Not that he needed to prove anything – success seemed fairly guaranteed, with Arnold still riding pretty high in his movie career and Cameron having well proven his action chops with Aliens, but there’s definitely a note of personal pride apparent in letting this out to over two hours, taking a solid hour to develop the character interest the original had to skip through.  Cam’s proficiency as entertainer and producer is unquestionable: he knows the era in which he’s making a film and how far to push it.  The model sequences for the flashbacks (-forwards?) are devastatingly awesome, and even the T-1000 morphing bits mostly hold up, thanks to smart framing and not trying to blend too many layers of actors with the then-burgeoning CGI.  However, Terminator 2 tries to have it, genre-wise, a few different ways and though it wonderfully distracts us with its action sequences, the silences between the clatter feel that much more clunky, mixed between the B-movie sci-fi of Terminator, a contemplative drama regarding choices and destiny, a horror-tinged thriller, and a buddy-flick quippy extraordinaire.

As a quick-as-possible plot recap: in some nifty retcon / time loop magic, it turns out that the Terminator from film 1 was one of two sent back in time, the second – a more advanced model made of ‘living metal’ – was sent to when the human’s eventual leader – John Connor – would be a teen.  Woot woot, the human’s ALSO sent back another hero, this time a reprogrammed T-101, meaning the same model that was the baddie in Terminator, a.k.a. Arnold, which is a clever way to recast Arnie as the hero, but also to include some good ol’ fashioned dramas with Sarah Connor having to embrace something that looks exactly like her former pursuer.  Further clouding the paradox, the crushed bits of Terminator 1 are what allow Cyberdyne Industries to make leaps forward in technology and develop Skynet.  Dang.  So: cue a pretty similar chase to Terminator, except with Arnold standing in as the protector vs. evil Robert Patrick.

…Who is excellent as the agile T-1000, but he somewhat outshines Schwarz’s take on mechanical life; Arnold was dismissive of the first movie and a bit too self-aware here.  The dynamic between Furlong and Hamilton is well scripted and portrayed (there’s no automatic bonding, as we’re dealing with two outcasts), though Hamilton’s voiceovers are as hammy as the logic of this becomes more and more questionable – despite the acclaim, Terminator 2 was a 90s popcorn flick, which means that thinking robots apparently desire to create as many explosions as possible, even when it doesn’t best accomplish their prime directive.  Mirroring the prior film’s structural strengths and weaknesses, T2 slips into a pretty solid final chapter, as it allows for full forward momentum and you fully buy into our warring machines’ relative ruthlessness.  I realize I’m poo-pooing on a classic, but as Titanic was revisited with some scrutiny, I think the Terminator flicks were awesomely notable for (like the Aliens series) bringing some sci-fi tropes to the big budget world, and then we got a little wowed by a director who excels at doing just that.