Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) Review

Terminator 2: Judgement Day is again directed by James Cameron and is about the same cyborg played by Arnold Schwarzenegger, going back in time once more, but not to kill Sarah Connor, no, to actual save John Connor the son of Sarah (Linda Hamilton), played by Edward Furlong from the T-1000, played by Robert Patrick.

  

This movie can be classed as the same film from some viewers, but to me it’s not, because in this film we get to see more emotion than the first, more depth in the story and better special effects. The three way emotion between John and Sarah Connor and the Terminator is felt by the audience. We want to see the Terminator to feel emotions when John is explaining what tears are, or we want Sarah Conner to understand that Arnold’s Terminator is not bad anymore, and we also want to see John and Sarah Conner to love each other (as mother and son). In this film I felt for the characters, not like the first film. This is down to the film being longer, as a result we get more character development and more of them talking, we did not get that in the first film because that was way shorter and jam packed with action. The more dialogue brought more to the film especially when John and Terminator were talking, as they would talk about what’s right or wrong, and what is emotions, which made the film less one dimensional.  

Terminator 2 had more depth, we had more than one storyline to watch, and more than one character to watch. There was John Conner’s and the Terminators relationship, Sarah Conner being in a mental hospital, the destruction of Skynet, and the T-1000 causing havoc. And with all that you might think there was going to be a pacing issue, but there was not. I felt like the film concentrated on things I wanted to watch, which was the connection made by John and the Terminator, I didn't get bored one bit because I was invested in the characters and the story that was being told. My only problem was that the T-1000 was not shown enough in the film, for me he was in the beginning and at the end, what I saw from him was fantastic. The way he would shape shift his body to make objects or even people, and when he walks through some metal bars was great even though that was in the film for 10 seconds. It was a shame that he couldn't be in the film longer.

Technology has vastly improved in this Terminator. I remember in the first one we got to see half Arnold’s face and half Terminator and I could tell they had a mask on him but in this film we got another scene like that but it was more realistic with Arnold even speaking. The special effects crew has to get some praise because the work they did for the T-1000 was special, they used practical and CGI, both used effectively.

I have one more minor problem, the last act of the film does rely on coincidences quite a few times but I can let it go because I thoroughly enjoyed watching the film. Oh yeah and the action sequences were fantastic especially the car chase in the beginning, gets your heart pumping. The film is a big step up from The Terminator and surpasses many other action films. You’ll not only get depth in the film but you also get great character building and a great story of being a human. A must watch and I give it a 9/10    

The Terminator (1984) Review

Terminator is directed by acclaimed director James Cameron and is about a Terminator, which is basically a cyborg, coming back in time to the year 1984 to kill Sarah Connor, while a human soldier from the future also comes back in time to protect her

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The film stars Arnold Schwarzenegger as the Terminator, Linda Hamilton as Sarah Connor, and Michael Bien as Kyle Reese. With the film being only 1 hour and 40 minutes long, the duration was fine. The film is all action, which means it doesn’t need to be any longer, because any longer then the film drags. I believe the films sole purpose was to be a great action film, nothing else not romance or drama, no, just an action film. Which it achieves, many viewers might say that the love connection between Linda Hamilton (Sarah Connor) and Michael Bien (Kyle Reese) was a big part of the story. I’ll agree that it is a big part but it is not presented as a big part in the film, they only had one romance scene and that was it. The story is straight forward and doesn’t ask questions, it just gives the viewer’s action. For me this wasn’t a big deal because I wanted to watch this film so I can just see people get shot and stuff get blown up, and I got that, so I’m satisfied. But for others who do want more than one element then it might be boring for you, and a little repetitive.

The acting from the main three actors was satisfying, it didn’t blow me away where I could not stop thinking about their performance, they all did their part well. But Arnold’s performance is more of the memorable ones out of the lot, maybe because in the film he’s a man (or cyborg) that has little words, which is credit to his acting ability because he fits the Terminator character so well ,but when he does open his mouth magical one liner come out (“I’ll be back”). And let’s be honest we know Arnold more than anyone from Terminator because of his one liners. Going back to the other characters, I actually thought that Sarah Conner was going to be some whiny person that does nothing but whine, so I give credit to James Cameron and the other writers for not going down that road and making Sarah Conner likable.

What I did find a shame was that we didn’t see more of the Terminator without its artificial flesh because it looked awesome. I wanted to see it hold a gun or crush someone but to be fair watching the terminator walk, I don’t think they could have pulled it off. I’m not faulting the special effects team because probably back in the 80s the terminator walking would have look real (maybe).    

I enjoyed this movie as I went to watch it wanting all action and I got that, I did not care that the story lacked any other element. If you are wanting to watch this thinking you’ll challenge your mind or get a dialogue based movie then you probably won’t enjoy it, but for me I found entertaining and will give it 8.5/10