THIS
REVIEW CONTAINS VERY MINOR SPOILERS
James Cameron’s gargantuan sequel blazed so
many trails and set so many records on its release, it still requires virtually no introduction 26 years(!) later. Little surprise then
that it’s been tuned up and turned out for the 3D treatment.
As with virtually everything Cameron puts
his stamp on though, this is no mere gimmick. Anyone who remembers the film in
any detail would consider that between its shooting style and the VFX technology
of its time, T2 lends itself very kindly to stereoscope: looking through the
hole in the head of Robert Patrick’s T-1000 at the characters who put the hole
there; the truck crashing towards us through a bridge barrier, down into a
storm drain; the T-1000 walking through
a set of iron bars.
What’s surprising is the gentleness of the
effect overall. As with TITANIC’s similar treatment a few years back, this is a
very subtle remix – the objective (like the wise application of all visual
effects) seems to be if not complete invisibility, at least to remain mostly
unnoticed.
Elsewhere, there’s a few touch ups to the
film itself – a hitherto notoriously visible stunt-double has been surrendered
to CG mapping of Schwarzenegger’s face (although now I think of it, was this done for the IMAX re-release a few years back?), and doubtless the eagle-eyed will find
some others upon future viewings. The print, despite now being a digital
release, retains its pleasing celluloid grain, and the soundtrack (played at
thunderous volume in my session) keeps a trebly ‘90s mix.
The film’s original tiny irritations will
forever remain (Cameron’s tin-ear for anything but the hammiest of dialogue,
poor Edward Furlong’s maddeningly breaking voice), but they’re really not worth
mentioning against the generation-defining achievement that is EVERYTHING ELSE
about the film. If you’ve never seen T2 on the big screen before, now’s your chance. And if you have, you know you're going again.
T2:
3D is released August 24 in Australia (seven day limited run), from August 25 in the US and August 29 in the UK.