I saw this in the theater when it was released. I didn't know anything about the plot, nor had seen any spoilers. The movie absolutely blew me away; especially after seeing the first one countless times.
The visual effects were absolutely ground breaking at the time, and hold up pretty good even today (can't say the same for the original unfortunately, but still a great movie).
Not once did I didn't think about the CGI, special effects, or all the sound design involved... I just watched it, and thought, "omg, how are they going to kill that thing?!?!!"
I sat in the theater after it was over, ducked my head down like I wasn't there, and stayed to watch it again.
One of the best action movies I've ever seen.