Monday, June 14, 2010

A Review Of Terminator 2

By Alyson Sweeney

James Cameron's name is back on top thanks to the recent release of Avatar, which is said to break new ground in cinematic technology, as well as showcasing his trademark excellent story telling. Cameron made his name years ago with movies like Aliens but Terminator 2 is the one that really made it known that he was capable of making some of the greatest movies of all time. If you, for some reason, haven't seen it yet, or just haven't seen it in awhile, go ahead and watch T2 the next time you want to download movies.

The thing about Terminator 2 is that it's not just about the special effects. For James Cameron, the special effects are never the point. Rather, the special effects are just one small tool in his toolkit. James Cameron has made a lot of incredible innovations in the field of special effects, but they always serve the story, not the other way around.

If for some reason you haven't seen it yet... Welcome to the 21st Century! Come out from under that rock/the iceberg you've been frozen in for decades. We'll go ahead and quickly describe the premise: Robots take over the world, there's a human resistance to their rule. They send a robot back to kill the human resistance leader in his teens, the adult resistance leader sends another robot back to serve as a bodyguard. That's as complicated as it gets. It's actually pretty straight forward from there.

Terminator 2 made some incredible steps forward in special effects, starting with the T-1000, the liquid metal terminator sent back to finish off John Connor. This movie was made back in the early nineties, and you won't be able to tell that these effects are out of date. It's really incredible how they used innovation and artistry to make up for somewhat lacking technology (of course, a lot of new technology was developed specifically for this movie...).

The movie has a kind of purity to it in that, while the background is fairly complicated, the movie is not. The movie is driven purely on emotion and strong storytelling. You have the classic tale of the robot who becomes humanized and the heroes beating the bad guys. From there it's all about the humanity of the characters, what they think and feel, even if there is some heady, high sci-fi stuff in there, it's all about the people in the end.

If you haven't seen it yet... Where the heck have you been for twenty odd years?! If you have, when was the last time you saw it? It's always worth watching again as it really is one of the greatest American films of the last two decades.

Watch it again. The movie really does have a lot of depth and is one of the great American classic films of the last few decades. It's exciting, it's dramatic, it's meaningful and touching, it's even funny at several points, and seriously redefined the American cinematic landscape, and the world cinema.

Bottom line, it's an all time American classic, and you need to see it. Either for the first time, or for the hundredth, it's always a good time to watch Terminator 2. - 38505

About the Author:

No comments:

Post a Comment