Plot Details: This opinion reveals major details about the movie's plot.

You’ve seen him a thousand times in a thousand movies.

You know, he’s the guy.

No, not that guy, but the other guy.

He’s the character actor that only has five lines, but when he speaks them, you’re hanging on each and every single syllable.

He’s the one that may die in the first thirty minutes of a movie, but when he dies, you’re like “whoa, now that’s how you go out!”

You’ve seen him. You like him. You respect his work.

Just one question, though. WHO THE HELL IS HE?



His name Joe Morton.

Joe Morton is an excellent African American actor who appeared in a variety of Broadway shows, including the original production of Hair and the musical Raisin. Hardcore fans of Redd Foxx’s 70’s show Sanford and Son might remember Morton from his recurring role as Hal Marshall on the spin-off Grady (be honest, you didn’t know there was a spin-off, did you?). After that show went under, he continued to make appearances on various other series before making his film debut in the lead role of The Brother from Another Planet. Morton’s impressive performance in this social commentary piece disguised as sci-fi comedy helped launch him into other larger projects.

In 1991, Joe Morton starred in Terminator 2: Judgement Day, along with the unexpectedly ripped Linda Hamilton, the truly annoying Eddie Furlong, future Mulder replacement Robert Patrick, and action film force-of-nature Arnold Schwarzenegger. All were under the watchful eye of director James Cameron.

Terminator 2: Judgement Day is the explosive sequel to the original Terminator in which a war machine was sent from the future to kill the mother of the future leader of the human resistance in the upcoming war against the machines. In T2, we find that another Terminator has been dispatched (these machines aren’t too creative, are they?) to erase the leader of the resistance. However, this new “liquid metal” T-1000 Terminator (Patrick) was sent not so far into the past, with the sinister purpose of assassinating the young John Connor (Furlong) as a boy. In order to counter this strategy, the Connor of the future sends back his own reprogrammed T-800 killer robot (Arnie) to protect his younger self. Young Connor uses his new buddy to break his mom (Hamilton) out of the loony bin, and then the fun starts.

- The Joe Morton Factor -
In T2, Morton plays the computer scientist Dr. Miles Dyson who studies the chip left from the first Terminator, in order redesign a functioning version of the chip. The chip he develops will eventually be placed in the SkyNet computer, which will be used to control many important computer systems including the United States military’s nuclear weapons protocols. The military panics and tries to pull the plug when the deluge of information into the supercomputer causes it to become sentient. Showing the instinct self-preservation, SkyNet launches a volley of nukes at the United States’ oversea enemies, knowing that the resulting counter-attack will decimate it’s enemies at home. After this Armageddon, the last remaining human beings find themselves in a war for survival against an army of new, self-aware machines.

When we’re first introduced to Morton’s character, Sarah Connor is trying to “fight the future” herself, by blowing Dyson’s head off with a sniper rifle. As par for the course for action films in which someone other than the main hero uses semi-automatic rifles, she misses him completely several times. After a few minutes of successfully dodging bullets, he eventually takes one in the arm and has to stare down the barrel of Connor’s rifle for a few minutes until the brat and the Terminator show up. Morton is very convincing as someone who has been shot. He uses the “shakes” and a loss of motor control to help relay his pain and fear. I love the part where he still shows the presence of mind and parental instincts to push his protective son out of the line of fire.

Joe is also great at portraying genuine emotions. At the house, John orders the Terminator to cut the synthesized human flesh from the arm of his robotic skeleton so that the scientist can immediately know what they’re about to discuss. When the knife blade sinks deep into the skin, Morton’s expression shows the absolute horror and disgust that would be the most natural reaction. Then once the flesh is ripped off and the artificial skeleton is exposed, his expression almost immediately changes to an easily identifiable mixture of fear, intrigue, recognition, and curiosity.

But of course, the unwritten law for any Hollywood action movie is that once a black character serves his necessary purpose as a plot device, he must die. Dyson’s death in T2 occurs when the SWAT teams raid the laboratory that Sarah, John, Miles, and the Terminator are about to blow up. The squad kicks open the door to his lab, and per basic police SOP, opens fire on the darkest man in the room (he could have been a hostage for crying out loud!). For some reason, they completely ignore the fact that the violent escaped mental patient, the juvenile delinquent, and the heavily armed confirmed cop killer they were originally dispatched to arrest quickly ducked behind some office furniture. By all means, bust caps in the skinny, defenseless scientist with his arm in a bandage.

Anyway, Dr. Dyson finds himself being repeatedly perforated by automatic weapons fire while the rest of the crew ducks behind an obstruction. It’s gruesome the way the Morton almost doubles over while the squibs (mini-explosions to represent bullet hits) are going off. Most actors are simply content to hold their arms out and shake their upper bodies when their character is supposed to be getting riddled with bullets. Morton’s physical acting ability makes his scene look much more graphic and gruesome, especially with the film slowed down slightly. His skill sells the scene just as much as the squibs and muzzle flares.

After the police finish pumping slugs into Dyson, he drags his body behind a large desk, blocking himself from the SWAT team’s line of fire. With a simple nod he lets Sarah, the kid and the Terminator know that he still has the detonator and will blow up the lab after they depart. After the heroes split, the SWAT team finally approaches Dyson’s position and see him taking extremely short gasps of air, desperately clinging to life. In his right hand he’s suspending the heavy detonator over the actual physical switch that controls the great many explosives strategically placed throughout the building. In between the short, labored breaths he warns the SWAT point man,

“I…don’t…know...how…much…longer…I…can…hold…this…”

The police quickly realize what is about to happen and get out of dodge. Following the exodus of the police, Morton’s breath begins to slow, and his eyes get glassy. Eventually he takes that last breath and his hand falls on the switch, leading to that big, expensive explosion we’ve all seen about a thousand times. It’s a great special effect that was set up by brilliant acting.

Joe Morton does a great job in this brilliantly directed movie, but as with most of the flicks in his filmography, he is horribly underused. But to be honest, there really wasn’t much for him to do here in Terminator 2. Between the star status of Arnold, the sex appeal of Hamilton, and the whatever of Furlong, all that was left for Morton to do is deliver his lines and die. Fortunately, being the professional that he is, he doesn’t just phone in his performance. The actor does an admirable great job handling the required character development and providing the necessary plot progressions. Then once his time is finally up, he dies like a champ.

So next time you rent this flick, I beg you to temporarily ignore the awesome special effects and intriguing plot for a second and pay special attention to the fine, understated work of Mr. Joe Morton. I’ll put it as plainly as I can, he is by far the best actor in this movie.

This opinion is part 1 of the Underrated Actor Write Off hosted by tigger500. If this review made you think of some unsung actor or actress out there why don’t you join up and let us know about him or her? Remember, that it’s never too late. For more information, stop by tigger500’s profile page. Be sure to check out the work from these other talented participant and movie lovers:

tigger500
DavidK23
Artbyjude
cletta1201
brando814
mike.holmes



Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: VHS
Video Occasion: Good for Groups
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older