Terminator 2: Judgment Dayis often heralded as the franchise’s finest hour, butthere are a few reasons why the first movie is superior.Terminator 2was an immediate sensation, and another big win for James Cameron at the box office. It made over $500 million, which made it the highest-grossing movie of 1991 and the third-highest-grossing film ever at the time.
Not only isTerminator 2lauded as a big step-up when compared to 1984’sThe Terminator,but its name has become shorthand for the elusive Hollywood pipe dream of a sequel that fans agree is better than the original.TheTerminatorfranchisenever managed to recapture this magic,
With the benefit of hindsight, it’s easy to see one or two flaws with the sequel. While the pyrotechnics and the groundbreaking visual effects are still impressive,Terminator 2isn’t as powerful as the first movie. It’s about time thatThe Terminatoris recognized as the true pinnacle of the franchise.
Terminator 2 Has Great Action Scenes, But Its Story Leaves A Lot To Be Desired
The Fights And Chases Gloss Over Some Plot Issues
There’s no denying the impact ofTerminator 2’s action scenes. From the motorbike chase to the shootout in the office, the sequel kicks things up several notches, and the excitement hasn’t worn off in the 34 years since.Terminator 2operated at the limits of filmmaking technology in 1991, and its action holds up nicely.
The problem withTerminator 2has nothing to do with its action scenes. Instead, it’s the story that ties these explosive bursts together which is the issue.The sequel doesn’t exactly innovate on the premise of the original, only going bigger and badder in pursuit of more adrenaline.
Terminator 2retreads familiar territory, with the addition of a young John Connor and the T-800 as a hero rather than a villain. Still, it’s more of the same without the unpredictable, breathless energy of the original.The sequel also sets up many of the problems that the franchise faced further down the line.
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$205 million
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Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score
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By exploring the origins and lore of Skynet in more depth,Terminator 2wipes away some of the mystique of the franchise. The worst sequels have been beholden to this sci-fi mythology, often to the detriment of the characters and the narrative. Not only isTerminator 2a sub-par story, but it started the rot at the heart of the franchise.
Arnold Schwarzenegger Is A Better Villain Than The T-1000
The Sequel Doesn’t Get The Best Out Of Its Star
Terminator 2takes one of cinema’s most iconic villains and turns him into a surrogate father figure, learning about the power of love with his artificial intelligence software. It’s a bold risk that many fans of the sequel have defended as an unexpected twist on the formula, but this doesn’t make it a good idea.
Of course, the T-800 inTerminator 2isn’t the exact same one that Sarah Connor destroys in the first movie, but the presence of Arnold Schwarzenegger still takes the shine off the original villain. The sequel doesn’t get the best out of Schwarzenegger, either as an action hero or as an underappreciated comedic actor.
Schwarzenegger understands his role perfectly inThe Terminator.
Schwarzenegger understands his role perfectly inThe Terminator.He’s a blunt object pursuing Sarah Connor without any hint of subtlety or subterfuge. When he finds several Sarah Connors in the phone book, he kills them all. When he arrives in the past completely nude, he assaults the nearest person who might match his measurements.
There aren’t many actors who could play Schwarzenegger’s role inThe Terminator,but he’s pitch-perfect as a soulless killing machine, with undercurrents of dark humor running throughout his performance. He adopts a slightly more generic action hero persona in the sequel, which is immediately less interesting.
Young John Connor Is A Difficult Character To Root For
Sarah’s Son Isn’t As Interesting Or Relatable
While Sarah Connor is one of the most iconic sci-fi characters in film history,Terminator 2also introduces her son John as a dual protagonist.John is shown to be a hollow stereotype of a young ne’er-do-well, with the same disregard for authority and yearning for freedom as Bart Simpson.
John doesn’t feel as real or relatable as his mother does. It’s as if James Cameron just put in a child to elicit sympathy from the audience as he did inAliens,without paying enough attention to the character outside his relationship to Sarah.The Terminatorsets John up as an important figure, and his arrival is a bit of a let-down.
Terminator’s Concept Works Better As A Tense Chase Thriller Than A Full-Blast Action Spectacle
Terminator 2 Forgets What Makes The First Movie Work
There are a few more similarities betweenAliensandTerminator 2.Both sequels tone down the horror of the movies that came before them, withTerminator 2indulging in big-screen spectacle rather than focusing on what makesThe Terminatorso thrilling. It isn’t just the action, but the inevitable, emotionless pursuit of Sarah that makes the first film tick.
There are times when the action inTerminator 2can feel weightless,because the story doesn’t do enough work to make the stakes feel tangible and urgent. The sequel is constantly in danger of adding in one too many explosions, butThe Terminatorstrikes the right balance, proving that less is more.
WhileThe Terminatoris a nail-biting man vs. machine story, the sequel trades this in to launch two high-powered sci-fi robots at each other instead. It makes for some eye-popping action scenes, butTerminator 2loses sight of the human element that makes Sarah Connor’s story so compelling the first time round.
