It’s fair to say that if I was reviewing this film at its time of release I would be discussing it the same way I do films like The Expendables 2. It’s an action film which hits its mark so well that I can’t believe in finding a way to lessen it’s achievements by discussing things like plot contrivances or problematic dialogue scenes. However, discussing this film in the context of just over twenty years of fanatical love it’s even more difficult to talk of it in any other tone than that which we discuss films such as The Evil Dead or The Room. These are all films that at their time suffered for being questionably good, but for those people who loved them then their voice has echoed so loudly that it’s become the only voice you can hear and are forced to view the material from that view point rather than a fresh look that you would have in 1991.

If you’ve seen The Terminator, Predator or Total Recall you know what you’re in for. It’s just over two hours of Arnold Schwarzenegger stand up straight as people shoot an incalculable amount of bullets, grenades and any other sort of forceful weapon that man had conceived of at that point in time. Now with the second film in the franchise we get the fun of having Arnie go up against another Terminator, the T-1000 (Robert Patrick), who has a whole new bag of tricks including the ability to morph into any shape it pleases (since it’s made out of liquid metal) which makes it more difficult to kill and fight against.

James Cameron has always been a director guided by his love of technology and what it can do for him. I’m surprised as much whenever his films actually turn out to be well made. Even with his latest film, Avatar, which he claims he purposefully waited near a decade in order for the tools to be ready for him to tell this story (which turned out to be a relatively mediocre tale). It’s obvious, comparing The Terminator against this sequel that Cameron was interested in the advancements in computer generated imagery (CGI) at the time. While the film still holds a lot of practical puppetry effects (which are great) the digital element has creeped in. It shows especially with the iconic T-1000 and his constant shifting, even when under attack.

In respect to the digital vs. practical effects conversation I find it interesting to note that if not all special effects for the new model T-1000 were digital while all effects for the old Terminator were done practically. Showing the old vs. new argument that we’re sure Cameron was intending constantly with his films.

Where this film truly shines is when it reminds me how powerful the visual medium is to cinema. In the first scene where our terminators interact with John Connor (Edward Furlong) in the hallways behind the arcade of the mall there’s no dialogue we just are watching as both step closer and closer with deadly intentions and we’re left guessing which is the bad terminator and which is the good one (are either of them good?) until they eventually show their hands and Arnold says, “get down” so he can attack Patrick. Another example of this film using visuals to do all the heavy lifting is at the end of Sarah Connor’s (Linda Hamilton) escape from the psychiatric facility when Arnold (The Terminator) appears and she sees him, the fright on her face that we’ve seen expressed only through her retelling of stories to the doctors where they all see her as a complete loon does so much for the viewer that nothing but sounds of joy can be uttered in response to this terrifying moment, mainly because we already know Arnold is here to save the day.

While there are defintely a few things about the story I would change, mainly how the T-1000 operates in approaching his target, these are minor script changes that I’m sure would’ve been shot down in the original studio meeting and serve only to make the film more scary than anything else.