Connor's mother is Linda Hamilton, who in the first film was chased by Schwarzenegger before he joined up with the good guys. Hamilton has since bulked up and become fond of rifles that would take down a city wall. It's Hamilton, Furlong, and Schwarzenegger against the shape-shifting bad cop T-1000. Intense action follows.
How others will see it. This costly CGI wonder was a blockbuster, and remains popular today, as it is deeply imbedded into the Internet Movie Database Top 250. Those who like to see things blow up, get shot at, or battle to the death should enjoy this film, and they won't care a whit about its illogic, or even its sentimentality, such as the father-son bonding between Connor and his stolid strongman protector, and the would-be tearjerker ending where Schwarzenegger hits a sacrifice run for the home team.
How I felt about it. Make no mistake. Terminator 2 is enjoyable and enervating to watch. It is a guilty pleasure, almost like a Hitchcock film in its use of suspense, only it doesn't let up to provide romance, character depth, or witty dialogue. Just action and suspense, thank you, save for Hamilton's dubious musings about how an obedient and humorless cyborg is actually the ideal dad. Well, he does come in handy if you want to steal a car, wipe out a fleet of cops, break into a mental hospital, or blow up a high tech laboratory.
The T-1000 is the scary robot who couldn't. If you're in a car and he's following, he can run faster than a cheetah answering a dinner bell in the form of a zebra. On the other hand, if you are defenseless and only able to walk, have no fear. The T-1000 will walk slowly, and he's even slower on the draw. It's almost as if he likes getting shot, so he can show off his cool ability to close up a bullet hole the diameter of a dinner plate.
We will forgive the actions of John Connor, such as exulting at a successful theft from an ATM machine. He is, after all, just a pre-teenager. We can't forgive Mommy Dearest as easily, as she beats up and threatens to kill hospital workers who are only (and understandably) trying to protect Joe Public from her paranoia and physical violence. Ah-nold joins the fun by unnecessarily banging male nurses against walls and throwing them through windows (guess he wouldn't do that with a female nurse).
After the tagline success of "I'll be back" from the first Terminator movie, Ah-nold tries for a double play with "Hasta la vista, baby" and "No problemo." But his only good line is "I need a vacation."
By all means, enjoy Terminator 2 for what it is: an escape. But if it sets your pulse racing, just remember that adrenaline isn't everything. Nothing ever blew up in Shakespeare's plays.