Terminator 2: Judgment Day – James Cameron, 1991

The Terminator failed to kill Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton), but 10 years after the attack Skynet’s new T-1000 (Robert Patrick) arrives in 1995 to terminate the future rebellion leader John Connor (Edward Furlong) himself. The rebellion however managed to reprogram an old T-800 (Arnold Schwarzenegger) and send him back in time to assist the 10-year old John in his fight. While the T-800 tries to shield John from the attacks of the far more advanced T-1000 Sarah Connor is locked up in a mental institution, preparing her every muscle for the next encounter with the deadly machines. When she finds out that her son has disappeared she plans her escape.

Edward Furlong and Arnold Schwarzenegger in Terminator 2

I’ve been dodging this film for years knowing about its great reputation, but now I finally got around to watching it. What can I say? I loved it. Terminator 2 is as impressive to me as it would have been 10 years ago. What I like most about it are the writing and directing. Cameron managed to capture my mind from the very first scene. The characters’ decisions are understandable and even anticipated by the audience so we feel closer to them and their story. The action scenes are great too: thrilling and fast-paced but not confusing or unnecessarily violent. The special effects may be outdated, but were revolutionary at the time and still look decent enough. I’ve grown pretty tired of action movies by now, but that film left me wishing it was even longer than its already long 137 minutes.