What other score could you give the second in the Terminator franchise? It is the best film in the series, as well as arguably the best flick by director James Cameron, and easily Schwarzenegger's most iconic role. All this reissue brings is a 3D gimmick, which aside from have the T-1000's liquid metal arm swords come slightly towards audience's eyes, is an excuse to see a real summer blockbuster on the big screen again. None of that matters; this is one of the greatest in the science-fiction genre, as well as in the action category (and why not, it is a superb picture amongst any sequel).
The point of a 3D re-release isn't to attract a new audience; after all, who is gonna pluck down eleven bucks to see a 26 year old film? I saw it in a cramped theater spotted with only fans of the movie, who gripped their armrests at every tense moment and laughed at all the jokes (one of my favorites is when a beat-up Schwarzenegger quips "... I need a vacation"). So let me not waste my time repeating the plot (life's too short, and I'd like to have this review finished before they re-release "Terminator 3").
Without going into detail of exposition, the performances hold up all these years later, with Linda Hamilton and Edward Furlong perfecting capturing the mood of a hyper-dysfunctional mother and son. She chain-smokes her way out of a mental hospital, being committed following the events of the first film, with a body almost as bulging than her costar Arnold. He does what he does best here, cracking jokes with the straightest of faces and kicking ass with the biggest of muscles. He is amazingly charming, whether he is fighting a biker or pondering why humans cry, this is a surprising example of his strength as an actor.
The brilliance to "Terminator 2" comes to its action, where like "Jurassic Park" a few years later, mixed thrills with this new thing called "CGI," where computers created images no one had ever seen before. Here, the T-1000, dubbed the liquid Terminator, morphs his arms into swords and heals himself after every bullet. But what is most remarkable is how little there is of it; every explosion, chase, and stunt looks real, with true momentum to bodies thrown from crashing cars and verisimilar force when a human leaps from a fiery blast. Computers here only enhance what is seen on the screen, taking control only where practical effects would fail.
And it is every bit as good as you remember, if not more spectacular on the big screen, where it belongs. Every explosion rumbles through the speakers of the theater, just the way they should, and if you can, see it in a multiplex that hasn't been renovated in twenty something years, if you want to get real experience of this antiquated actioner.
