Before I went to the cinema in 1991 to see James Cameron's sequel Terminator 2: Judgement Day, I watched his original 1984 movie, The Terminator. This, at the time, may have been a mistake. So edgey and intense a movie is the original, when that quality was lacking a little bit in the follow up, I was a little disappointed.
However, T2's strength lies in it's differences, as well as those qualities that made the first movie so strong. Terminator 2 follows the same structure as the original; a Terminator is sent back in time to assasinate John Connor and a lone protector is sent to protect him. Cameron, a master of the sequel already with Aliens, has fun with the format, keeping enough of the original intact, while changing the details in the sequel. Playing with our expectations, he sets up Arnie as the evil Terminator with Robert Patrick apparently in the heroic (he's dressed as a policeman) protector role. It's only when we get to the first confrontation, mirroring Tech Noir in T1, that the agendas of the Terminators are revealed to be reversed.
It follows the first movies structure exactly; Future war bit, time travel bit, first confrontation, basil exposition scene, Dr Silverman interviews hero on video tape, confrontation on road against tanker, mistaken destruction of the bad terminator and final showdown in a factory (which holds the key to victory). Onto this it layers new elements. Wiser-than-his-year kid John Connor seeks his mother's love Sarah. Mummy Connor seeks to prevent the war by terminating the creator of skynet. And a machine slowly learns what it means to be human. It's an ambitious film (both in story and visually) that couldn't exist without standing on the shoulders of the giant original movie.
Lina Hamilton transforms, emotionally and physically, as a bitter and obsessed Sarah Connor. Edward Furlong is perfect casting as the young John, showing the intelligence, strength and charisma the future world leader would require, while still retaining the vulnerability of a kid who still needs his mom. Arnie's back to, delivering his trademark performance with a layering of ehumanity as the movie progresses.
It's Cameron's show, though. Gone is the Roger Corman prodigy; it's the budget busting Abyss director who runs this circus. The film is more confidently directed than anything he's done before, each shot precisly framed, paced, lit and performed to perfection. That precision means that the raw, dangerous energy of the original is deminished. But in its place is a glorious epic...ambitious in scope and daring in execution. The action sequences, particularly the hospital escape, the LA river truck chase and the later escape from Cyberdyne are all flawless in execution, firmly placing as Cameron as one of the worlds leading action helmers.
The ground breaking CGI are still eyepopping. Cameron took the limits of CGI at the time and incorporated them into his villain. They should feel dated, but aren't as they perfectly capture the form of the unstoppable T-1000. Brad Fidel's score presents a more subtle variation on the original...something that bugged on first viewing, but whose unique sound has sunk into established lore as the sound of a stalking robot assassin. Adam Greenberg's photography ranks as his best work, and elevates T2 as the best photographed Cameron movie, to date.
Ans so to the arguement of which is the best Terminator movie. Well as a fully-formed piece of film-making..it's probably the original. The story is so tightly constructed, it's more suspenceful as a thriller, combines sci-fi, love story and chase movie elements perfectly, plus creates a convincing fully formed universe in under two hours. However, on cinematic terms, I've got to say I prefer T2. The visual perfection of it is food for the soul, the action sequences some of the best commited to film, and the character stories only enrich the Terminator universe, not detract from it. And then there's the genius of the T-1000. The idea of a killer robot, as embodied by Arnie, was a clever if not original idea. By making the robot an average human/sized metal blob it created one of the most iconic characters of modern cinema. And then made it go head-to-head with one of the other most iconic characters of modern cinema.
Mintage time two! So good was this face off, in fact, that poor Jonathan Mostow could come up with a sufficently iconic baddie for T3. Unless you call inflatable boobs iconic?
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