Plot: Caught between the future and this past is a soldier sent back in time to change the fate of humanity. She arrives in 1997 to protect a scientist named Malcolm Lee who works to launch a new AI system designed to compete with Skynet’s impending attack on humanity. As Malcolm navigates the moral complexities of his creation, he is hunted by an unrelenting assassin from the future which forever alters the fate of his three children.
Review: To say the Terminator franchise has become convoluted would be an understatement. After the third film, Rise of the Machines, we have gotten a television series and three distinct feature film sequels that have altered the timeline presented in the original trilogy. Both Genisys and Dark Fate were box office failures, but they all closed the door for Arnold Schwarzenegger and Linda Hamilton to ever be involved in the series again. While James Cameron toys with a reboot of the series he began back in 1984, Skydance has partnered with animation studio Production I.G. for the first entry in the Terminator saga that is not only free of John and Sarah Connor but is not even set in the United States. Hailing from director Masashi Kudo (Bleach), Terminator Zero is a fresh perspective on the dystopian time travel series that takes the franchise back to the original films through the lens of Japanese anime.
Terminator Zero is set in 1997, which fans of the original film know is the year that Judgement Day occurred. In the first two feature films, John Connor sent protection for his mother from 2029 to 1984 and 1995, respectively. In this series, the time travel originates in 2022, where Eiko (Sonoya Mizuno) is sent by The Prophet (Ann Dowd) to stop scientist Malcolm Lee (Andre Holland) from bringing his version of Skynet online. The AI computer here is called Kokoro (Rosario Dawson), and while there are connections and parallels to Skynet, the existence of Kokoro is very different than what we have seen in the Terminator series previously. As Malcolm tries to ration with Kokoro to prevent Judgement Day, Eiko crosses paths with Malcolm’s children and their babysitter who are being pursued by the Terminator (Timothy Olyphant) sent back to kill him. Set over a short period of time, Terminator Zero unravels new elements and ideas never before explored in the saga.
The eight episodes of Terminator Zero open with an intense sequence that introduces the latest iteration of the T-800 and the resistance fighters opposing the machines. The story slows down significantly as we meet Malcolm Lee and his children and their babysitter, Misaki, and learn of the trauma that led to their current situation. It takes almost three episodes before the momentum returns, finally finding its stride in the fourth episode. On its own, the fourth episode is good enough to rival any of the Terminator film sequels. Chock is full of plot twists and unique takes on the established elements of the franchise. I found the second half of the series to be much more entertaining than the first, with the anime style working well with the subject matter. The shift to Japan is a refreshing change from the movies and could lead to this Terminator getting unique entries similar to how Prey helped refresh the Predator.
It also helps that the series sticks to the familiar formula of time-traveling resistance fighters returning to stop a Terminator from bringing about Judgement Day. While each sequel has tried to up the ante by making the android assassins more and more advanced or turning the resistance fighter into a machine or augmented human, Terminator Zero tries a different route, one you will have to watch the series to figure out. I also found most of the voice cast good in their roles, except for Timothy Olyphant. While Olyphant is one of my favorite actors, he does not sound right for the character. This could also be due to the limited dialogue this Terminator has in the series. Andre Holland and Rosario Dawson are the most recognizable throughout the series but still manage to transform themselves into their respective characters. Sonoya Mizuno is good as the resistance fighter, Eiko. Still, fans will be impressed by the actors portraying Mizaki and Malcolm Lee’s children, who get most of the screen time in this series.
While none of the creative talent from prior Terminator films or series had direct involvement with Terminator Zero, the producers wisely chose to give creative control to Mattson Tomlin. Tomlin is an accomplished comic book writer currently working on The Batman Part II with Matt Reeves. He made his directorial debut with the film Mother/Android starring Chloe Grace Moretz, which has echoes of The Terminator. Tomlin is faithful to the franchise’s mythology while allowing this series to feature a unique voice and style thanks to the shift in setting. Director Masashi Kudo does not shy away from the mature content of the Terminator franchise and lets the blood flow in this violent and stylish series. All eight episodes are heavy on character development and action, keeping the momentum moving even if the story gets convoluted in places. Any time you deal with time travel, you need to manage continuity, and Terminator Zero does the best it can not to get bogged down in circular logic and plot holes, but that does not mean it isn’t confusing.
While fitting the new details revealed in Terminator Zero within the continuity and canon of the overall franchise is still tricky, this is the first addition to the series that works just as well as the first two films. I have enjoyed most of the Terminator sequels, especially Dark Fate, but all have tried the “bigger is better” approach rather than rooting themselves in a solid story. Terminator Zero is the best story we have seen since Terminator 2, and had it been made as a live-action film, it would have blown fans away. This series invests in the look and style of Japanese animation but balances that with the storytelling we have come to expect from American blockbusters. This is a good series that I hope non-anime fans will give a shot as it has some wild moments in the second half despite a slow start.
Terminator Zero premieres on August 29th on Netflix.
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