James Cameron's "Terminator 2: Judgment Day" Returns to the theatres in 3D
See James Cameron's masterwork Terminator 2: Judgment Day 3D not because it's in 3D but because it's the chance to see Terminator 2: Judgment Day in the cinema. A chance that wasn't available to those of us who were born a couple of years after it was released (yo). Judgement Day is a historic accomplishment, one that merits a proper re-watch, not a mere piecemeal revisit through scenes on YoTube or TV (yo, again).
Arnold Schwarzenegger, so terrifying as the relentless titular killing machine in the first Terminator, returns. Only this time as the unlikely protector of humanity's saviour, John Connor, and it's still a twist that totally works; Sarah Connor's transformation from the innocent waitress to a warrior still shocks; and the genre shift from grimy slasher-flick to kid-friendly action flick remains a stroke of genius – just imagine if an Avengers sequel was an R-rated horror film and you can roughly appreciate the magnitude of the gear shift here. That T2's sequels have used its good name to sell ground-up junk has in no way dulled the lustre of this one.
If you see this, just hope to god it's with a crowd which doesn't comprise of hipper-than-thou dip shits who snigger at every 90s thing in this film made in the year 1991. If that garbage doesn't bother you one way or the other like it does me though, cool.
Certifiable badass: Sarah Connor
Anyway, the 3D. I'm not a fan of 3D. It's disorienting and ruins the immersion. Leave 3D to the theme parks, right? That being said, it's not so bad here. Which is to say that it neither detracts nor adds anything to the experience. I begrudgingly accepted 3D in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 because it was so loaded with colour and alien razzle-dazzle. Terminator 2 is known for its innovative use of CGI, but for the most part its action is down to earth and desperate. The horrifying sequence in which Sarah Connor's nuclear holocaust nightmare, depicted with excruciating specificity via a children's playground reduced to cinder and blackened bodies crumbling and scattering like autumn leaves, is no more horrifying because it's in 3D; it's more horrifying because I'm in that darkened cinema and not on my couch at 8 in the evening. Terminator 2 is built for cinema.
It's only out for a week. If you're a fan at all of James Cameron, sci-fi, or just great movies, you owe it to yourself to check this out.
Terminator 2: Judgement Day is playing at Hoyts, Village and Event Cinemas.
