T2: Judgment Day thoughts
May. 5th, 2009 09:47 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
seriousficIn light of how integral Sarah’s journey is in the first two movies, T3 really went wrong in excluding her, and T:SCC really rectified that with its focus on her. But here she gets to be hardcore awesome. Her break-out wisely isn’t just Arnie saving her, but a foe-tossing charge inspired by her love of her son. And it would’ve worked if Terminator showing up hadn’t thrown her off her game.
Subtly, the T-800 gets more human as the movie goes by even as he gets cool cyborg battle damage; bonding with John, cracking jokes, and sporting grins. Meanwhile, T-1000 gets more inhuman, first with the iconic helmet and sunglasses, then with the glitches from its ‘hasta la vista’ damage (which is one of the many things restored in the special edition that greatly improve it over the theatrical release).
Cameron really crafted a good comeuppance for Silberman, Sarah's douchey doctor. He’s a slimy jerk, but one with a point. A lot of movies would have just had the T-1000 ‘ironically’ kill him off, but they make sure to give him a punishment in proportion to his crimes, making Sarah’s treatment of him nicely unsadistic. The creepy orderly, on the other hand, gets the brunt of Sarah’s cathartic revenge. Serves him right.
This may be the one time where a violent action movie lamenting man’s inhumanity to man actually works. Although, the mild Luddite subtext still grates ("Technology like the Terminator is not inherently good or evil, it all depends on how you use it... EXCEPT FOR ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, WHICH MUST BE DESTROYED!") and you have to cringe at Sarah’s monologue about the joy of motherhood versus OMG EVIL PHALLIC TECHNOLOGY. With Cameron’s personal life being what it is, the movie here comes off as a frat boy trying to get a girl into bed by faking feminism. After the unspoken coolness of Sarah’s badass nature (no one saying “But, you’re a girl!”), this scene gets the same “yes, we get it” response as Buffy suddenly facing a misogynistic preacher. Really, this is feminist? Thanks for bringing it up, I never would’ve guessed!
Subtly, the T-800 gets more human as the movie goes by even as he gets cool cyborg battle damage; bonding with John, cracking jokes, and sporting grins. Meanwhile, T-1000 gets more inhuman, first with the iconic helmet and sunglasses, then with the glitches from its ‘hasta la vista’ damage (which is one of the many things restored in the special edition that greatly improve it over the theatrical release).
Cameron really crafted a good comeuppance for Silberman, Sarah's douchey doctor. He’s a slimy jerk, but one with a point. A lot of movies would have just had the T-1000 ‘ironically’ kill him off, but they make sure to give him a punishment in proportion to his crimes, making Sarah’s treatment of him nicely unsadistic. The creepy orderly, on the other hand, gets the brunt of Sarah’s cathartic revenge. Serves him right.
This may be the one time where a violent action movie lamenting man’s inhumanity to man actually works. Although, the mild Luddite subtext still grates ("Technology like the Terminator is not inherently good or evil, it all depends on how you use it... EXCEPT FOR ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, WHICH MUST BE DESTROYED!") and you have to cringe at Sarah’s monologue about the joy of motherhood versus OMG EVIL PHALLIC TECHNOLOGY. With Cameron’s personal life being what it is, the movie here comes off as a frat boy trying to get a girl into bed by faking feminism. After the unspoken coolness of Sarah’s badass nature (no one saying “But, you’re a girl!”), this scene gets the same “yes, we get it” response as Buffy suddenly facing a misogynistic preacher. Really, this is feminist? Thanks for bringing it up, I never would’ve guessed!
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Date: 2009-05-05 09:17 pm (UTC)