So, yeah, having now watched T1 and T2, I don't feel any particular need to watch Terminator: Genisys. They do the job just fine.
Oh, and speaking of spoilers, T2 was written to make the beginning deceptively ambiguous — like the original, you have a Terminator coming back, and a human soldier, both searching for John Connor — and it's not until the shopping mall that the role switch is made clear. Of course, spoilers and publicity releases at the time rendered the deception moot by the time the movie opened up — but my 14yo had daughter had never seen the film before, and, darn, it worked exactly as planned. So, well done, James Cameron.
A ★★★★ review of Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
This review is for the Director’s Cut / Extended Edition If The Terminator was a horror film, then T2 is an action adventure (much as with Alien and Aliens). That said, the change in direction works just fine, making for fun, excitement, drama, and a rollicking good time. Schwarzenegger plays the title role, of course, and his leaner features than during the first outing just making him more menacing. He does a competent job of both deadly cyborb…
Just don't show her the trailer for "Free Willy".