Terminator 2: Judgement Day (Film Review)

1991 Tri-Star Pictures
Directed by: James Cameron; Written by: James Cameron and William Wisher
Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Robert Patrick, Joe Morton, and Edward Furlong
MPAA Rating: R; Running Time: 137 Minutes
The Nicsperiment Score: 9/10

It's 1995, and 11 years ago, Sarah Connor just barely destroyed a Terminator android who was sent from the future to kill her. The futuristic machines wanted Sarah dead because she'd one day give birth to the machine-killing leader of mankind, John Connor. However, a man had been sent from the future to defend Sarah...sent by John himself. Ironically, that man, who died battling the Terminator, ended up being John's father. Now, ten-year-old John lives with his foster parents, while Sarah lives in an insane asylum. It turns out no one believes her stories about the future...but the future isn't done with her. The machines have sent back another Terminator, this one a T-1000 model made of liquid metal, to kill John himself. Thankfully, future John has sent back an original Terminator model to keep his younger self safe. Now,  the old T-800 Terminator model, along with Sarah and John, must battle this deadly new T-1000, while trying to ensure the T-1000's future never happens in the first place...they're trying to prevent...Judgement Day.
1991's Terminator 2: Judgement Day is the big one, one of the greatest action films in arguably the greatest decade for action films (it's a tossup with the 80s!). Featuring arguably the greatest action star in history, Arnold Schwarzenegger, at the absolute peak of his star power, in his most legendary role as the T-800, Judgement Day feels like some sort of pinnacle. Director and co-writer, James Cameron, also feels like he is at his peak here, pushing technology forward in a perfect 90s integration of practical and CGI effects, but not forgetting the story and characters. Meanwhile, Linda Hamilton, Robert Patrick, Joe Morton, and Edward Furlong all provide what has become their best known and well-regarded performances to this day, and considering some of the things Patrick in particular has done since, that's quite a statement.
Everything, from the visual design, to the effects, to the set pieces, to the performances, to Brad Fiedel's clanky musical score is iconic. And yet, why on Earth am I giving this movie a "nine" instead of a "ten?" There are two minor factors in this film that have always rubbed me the wrong way. The first is Linda Hamilton's dreary, monotone voiceover as Sarah Connor, which rams into my ears like a moldy piston. The second is a minor pacing issue in the middle of the film, where Robert Patrick's T-1000 and all the threat he provides seemingly disappear for an hour of the film. The T-1000 goes from a terrifying and unkillable menace that will stop at nothing, to a major nonfactor for the film's entire midsection, until he returns during T2's incredibly rousing finale. While the middle of the film does include some integral character-building moments, including some fantastic bonding scenes between the T-800 and Edward Furlong's young John Connor, Cameron really needed a few cuts over to the T-1000, to show what he is doing, that he hasn't suddenly stopped existing because the film does not currently require him.

While that second complaint may sound major, the rest of this film is so great, I can't go below a near perfect score. Terminator 2: Judgement Day is a landmark in 90s cinema, and cinema in general.