In 1984, James Cameron changed film history forever with The Terminator, a science fiction movie that was part action film, part slasher, and which made Arnold Schwarzenegger one of the most recognizable faces on the planet. In 1991, he somehow made an even better sequel with Terminator 2: Judgment Day, but it’s been all downhill for the franchise since then, with several nonsensical follow-ups and a short-lived TV series, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. Thankfully, the movies have stopped for the time being, but Terminator is back with a new show done differently. Terminator Zero is an eight-episode adventure on Netflix, but this time it’s an anime series.
With Masashi Kudo (Bleach) as the director and Mattson Tomlin (Project Power) as the showrunner, the collaboration between Skydance Television and Production I.G. has the talent behind it to produce something special. Terminator Zero includes both the original Japanese version with English subtitles, and an English dubbed version with voice talent including the likes of André Holland, Rosario Dawson, and Timothy Olyphant, and while the actors are great as always, they’re not enough to save a plot that becomes bogged down in exposition and an ending with one twist after another.
What Is ‘Terminator Zero’ About?
The best thing Terminator Zero does is that it gets far, far away from the endless stories about John Connor. We certainly don’t need any more of those. That’s done by focusing its story in Japan, during two different timelines. We start in 2022, where a woman named Eiko (Sonoya Mizuno, Toa Yukinari) is being chased by a Terminator before being sent back in time twenty-five years to 1997. It’s here where the vast majority of the action takes place. Fans of the franchise will know that it’s in 1997 when Skynet goes online and launches a massive attack against humanity, but in Japan, a scientist named Malcolm Lee (Holland, Yuya Uchida) has built an AI system he calls Kokoro (Dawson, Atsumi Tnezaki), which he created to go up against Skynet’s impending attack.
Skynet’s launch hasn’t happened, yet Malcolm is traumatized by relentless dreams showing him the onslaught and nuclear war to come. For much of Terminator Zero, the viewer is left to guess how he could know so much. Where is his information coming from? Malcolm might be one of our main protagonists, but the mystery surrounding his knowledge also makes him a figure we might not be able to trust. Kokoro speaks in a female form on screen, and is often Malcolm’s only source of companionship, as he goes into hiding and converses with the only thing that might be able to save humans.
Eiko, and Malcom’s housekeeper, a young woman named Misaki (Saori Hayami), are tasked with protecting Malcolm’s young children, who are on the run from a Terminator sent back from 2022 with the mission to abduct Malcolm’s children to force the scientist to take Kokoro offline so Skynet can execute its attack. Terminator Zero becomes a race against time, but not everything is as it seems.
‘Terminator Zero’ Doesn’t Play Enough to Its Strengths
Terminator Zero has a lot of good things going for it. The use of animation and new characters makes it feel fresh, something that the franchise badly needs. There is no John Connor, no Sarah Connor, and not even a Terminator that looks like Arnold Schwarzenegger. While the killer robots have the same familiar exoskeleton underneath, their appearance on the outside has changed. Terminator Zero also wisely resists the temptation to give way to fan service by not bringing back popular phrases or scenes. Outside of a few small uses of that iconic Terminator theme composed by Brad Fiedel, Terminator Zero is its own creation. If you haven’t seen all the movies or have forgotten the convoluted storylines, no worries, because it doesn’t matter here.
Product I.G. has been around since 1987, and has found fame from animating everything from Ghost in the Shell to the animated scenes in Kill Bill Vol. 1. Their animated work is in top form, creating a beautiful world that’s a sight to behold even when the surrounding plot stumbles. There is so much that Terminator Zero gets right, but sadly, it fumbles at times by not focusing on that enough. One rather interesting subplot is that, in Japan, guns are hard to come by. It’s not like America, where heroes and villains can logically find guns around any corner, leading to the Terminator films being filled with non-stop gun violence. When Eiko ends up in 1997, she doesn’t know where to get a gun. The Terminator doesn’t either, and for a time it uses a crossbow of its own making attached to its arm. That’s a fun new approach that could have taken Terminator Zero in a complex direction, but alas, guns are soon found, and we return to the action we’re used to.
There’s also the matter of the Terminator villain itself. With Olyphant voicing the English dubbed version of the baddie, that makes Terminator Zero a must-see, except that the Terminator isn’t a huge focal point for most of the episodes, and it’s not until the end that we hear him talk much. That’s a missed opportunity with such a great actor on board. This ties into a larger problem with the series. The character focus keeps shifting, staying on one point of view for so long that the others are neglected. Malcolm spends the majority of Terminator Zero locked away with Kokoro, so a relationship with his family, needed for the viewer to care about, is barely formed.
‘Terminator Zero’ Goes for Shocks and Exposition Over Action
It only consists of eight episodes that aren’t even thirty minutes a piece, but Terminator Zero still feels overly long, with lengthy periods of exposition and downtime that could have been condensed. It may have been much better off as a movie, and nothing proves that more than the final episodes. So many scenes are simply of Malcom talking to Kokoro on a screen. These conversations are the most important part of the plot, as Malcolm is desperately trying to convince his AI creation that humanity is worth saving, while it isn’t so sure because of the destruction humanity has often caused. If Malcolm can’t convince Kokoro to help, then Skynet will succeed and humanity dies. That matters more than anything, but when it becomes scene after scene of conversation and explanation, then it starts to get a little tiresome, and you find yourself wanting to reach for your phone.
While Terminator Zerodoes stop itself from giving into fan service, it can’t help but fall into the trap of endless shocking twists. There are multiple ones in the final episodes, another after another, so much so that it feels done for shock value. Admittedly, they do make sense when you look back at it and don’t destroy the narrative, but the twists lose their punch when the blows keep coming. Terminator Zero ends with a setup for a second season, one that risks doing what the movies did by being too convoluted with different timelines and building an illogical world overflowing with plot holes.
Terminator Zero isn’t a bad series by any means. The questions it asks will make you think, as the lines between what’s good and what evil become blurred. It’s beautiful to look at, and the story and characters are entertaining, even if they would be more effective in a more condensed format. If you’re a fan of the movies, definitely check it out, because it’s worth a watch. Just don’t expect to be taken back to the awe-inspiring time of those first two James Cameron movies. That magic won’t be back.
Terminator Zero is available to watch on Netflix.
WATCH ON NETFLIX
