Doug’s Cinematic Firsties is a recurring series wherein Douglas Laman (A.K.A. NerdInTheBasement) will review a well-known classic motion picture that he’s never seen before.

Nowadays, sequels come at relatively fast pace, with the superhero cinematic universes delivering multiple sequels a year and big franchises like Transformers and James Bond typically taking three year breaks in between movies. This was not so in the late years of the 20th century, when the perception of sequels began to shift drastically in the face of successful movies like The Empire Strikes Back and The Godfather: Part II. Previously, sequels were seen as a faux pas, but now, they were seen as potentially huge moneymakers, even if some franchises (like Robocop and Alien) still took their sweet time to get their much-anticipated follow-ups off the ground.

It may have taken seven years for The Terminator to make good on his catchphrase and actually come back to audiences worldwide, but fans greeted the sequel, Terminator 2: Judgement Day, with loads of cash that gave the film a much much much larger box office sum than the first. But all that box office jargon aside, was the motion picture itself all that good, twenty-six years removed from all that anticipation and hype? Actually, it is indeed! Watching this now classic blockbuster for the first time, I discovered quite the gem of action blockbuster cinema, one that dares to put a cohesive story and interesting characters at the forefront with some absolutely memorable action-heavy set pieces.

Eight years after the events of the first Terminator movie, Judgement Day (the day on which the machines take over, wiping out most of humanity and sending the planet plummeting into a post-apocalyptic war in the process) approaches ever closer as Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) is stuck in a mental hospital, which has separated her from her son, John Connor (Edward Furlong) for years. Now, two different robots have been sent from the future after John Connor for varying purposes; a reprogrammed Terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger) has been sent back to protect John from a being called the T-1000 (Robert Patrick), a relentless killing machine.

There’s your plot in a nutshell, with action scenes and some surprisingly strong character work unfolding within. It must be said that, while references to the first movie do crop up in the form of two dialogue callbacks and a climax set in a conveyor belt heavy factory, Terminator 2 goes off on its own narrative track to great success, particularly with the character of Sarah Connor, who rightfully became an action movie legend after her appearance her that allowed her to take a more proactive and combat-heavy role compared to the first film. It’s particularly interesting to see her ever growing desperation at wanting to stop Judgement Day leading her down some morally unsavory paths that challenge both the other characters in the plot and the audience.

The titular robot also manages to become a different creation than he was in the first movie. If the Terminator of the previous film was like a robotic version of a Michael Myers/Leatherface/Freddy Kruger-esque slasher movie baddie, this new Terminator is lovable lug with a penchant for violence (though he quickly learns not to kill to amusing effect) with an inability to master everyday pieces of human verbal communication that feel like a precursor to the humorous antics of future sci-fi blockbuster characters like Drax The Destroyer. Schwarzenegger is a lot of fun with this more humorous take on the character and his various action beats are just as successful as his myriad of witty moments.

James Cameron also manages to shine in delivering a very very different from the first Terminator by going all-in on his more bombastic qualities to match the larger scale of this particular Terminator story, which leads to an exceptional chase sequence early on that sets the stage for what kind of action you’re going to get throughout the movie. It’s all cohesively shot and edited, it’s always easy to keep track of where everyone is, while plenty of moments that’ll have you going “YEAAAAH!!!!” occur, such as the nefarious T-1000 just driving his truck right off a bridge or the calm way the Terminator keeps reloading his shotgun.

The best part is all these action sequences feel like they work in favor of the story and aren’t just around to eat up running time or distract the audience from the lack of depth on display. Just because he’s making a fun summer doesn’t mean James Cameron’s 1991 thrill ride can’t find time for a cogent plotline or even some heart in the form of John Connor finding the father figure he never had in the form of his Terminator protector. Basically, Terminator 2: Judgement Day is totally, for lack of a better word, awesome, and it’s so nice the franchise got to go out on this high note since they never ever ever ever made more sequels after this one, no siree….