Terminator Zero Review

Terminator Zero finally offers a solution to a series that's been in crisis for decades. The Terminator and its first sequel remain bona fide classics, and everything else in the franchise has fallen short of that impossible standard. Finally, after multiple reboots and resets, someone finally used the familiar trappings to tell a drastically different story. Is it perfect? Of course not. Is it a bold and engaging new path forward for a franchise that's been spinning its wheels since before anime attained widespread popularity in North America? Absolutely.

Terminator Zero comes to Netflix from showrunner Mattson Tomlin and director Masashi Kudo. Tomlin wrote the script for Project Power, provided some uncredited writing work on The Batman, and made his directorial debut with Mother/Android in 2021. He has adaptations of Mega Man and Fear Agent in production. Kudo is an animator who has done a lot of character design work on Bleach. As a director, Kudo has his name on projects like Sanrio Boys, Re-Kan!, and Chain Chronicle: The Light of Haecceitas. Production I.G, the studio behind Psycho Pass and Kaiju No. 8, provided the show's incredible animation.

Terminator Zero is a New Timeline

Showrunner	Mattson Tomlin
Writer	Mattson Tomlin
Director	Masashi Kudo
Stars	Timothy Olyphant, Sonoya Mizuno, André Holland, Rosario Dawson, Ann Dowd
Episodes	8
Release Date	August 29th, 2024

Against all odds, Terminator Zero is a wholly new chapter of the familiar Terminator universe. No one from the Connor clan pops up to shout, "come with me if you want to live." It's refreshingly free of callbacks and empty references. Instead, the new anime series follows Malcolm Lee, a scientist burning every waking moment on his most important project. Malcolm has been having terrifying prophetic dreams that warn him of an apocalyptic near future. As he wakes up on August 29th, 1997, he knows that Judgment Day is only a few hours away. Instead of the typical solution, Malcolm has developed an artificial intelligence system called Kokoro, which he hopes can end the Skynet threat before it starts.

Malcolm's devotion to Kokoro hits several snags. The most obvious one might be his three kids, all of whom are developing various levels of resentment as their dad spends more and more time away from home. Malcolm's housekeeper, Misaki, does her best to mind the rambunctious youths, but they quickly escape her sight. As the clock ticks by, Malcolm realizes that he'll have to choose between his kids and his life's work. In addition, Kokoro isn't just a tool. She's awake and well aware of her supposed purpose. Kokoro doesn't see a reason to save humanity if all humanity can do is create increasingly powerful means of self-destruction. All of that crashes around Malcolm as two visitors from the distant future arrive to insert the action fans have been waiting for.

Through the traditional lightning bubble system, a familiar T-800 Terminator wearing a new skin suit appears in Japan. Also under the same familiar techniques, the resistance of 2022 sends Eiko, its most accomplished soldier, to save Malcolm. Things get more complicated when it becomes clear that Eiko and the Terminator have a strange mix of goals. The machine wants Malcolm dead, but Eiko still wants Kokoro turned off. Misaki and the Lee siblings will have to struggle against an unstoppable murder robot and a seemingly superhuman future soldier to find who their friends and enemies are. It's a fascinating twist on the usual format, forcing fans to wonder exactly how heroic either time traveler might be.

Terminator Zero is a Killer Chase with a Messy Destination

Terminator Zero has a ton of positive traits. The action is across-the-board excellent. It wavers violently between slasher violence in the style of the original Terminator and high-octane action in the T2 mold. It's never derivative and the anime style shines through at all times. The shift in cultural context isn't as important as it could have been, as the heroes rarely have trouble finding guns in Japan, but it does lead to a couple of excellent, unexpected moments. A lot of the show follows the helpless kids and Misaki while Eiko nearly destroys herself trying to stop the Terminator. Fights are grimy, intense, and never fully balanced. The Terminator is a top-tier threat, and most of the human characters can barely survive an encounter with him. The show constantly throws in gripping new elements that act as force multipliers, keeping every action scene fresh. The fight and chase sequences are absolutely the draw here. Things get a little less impressive in the show's other primary plot element.

At first, the idea that Kokoro is a sapient character who actively resists her initial purpose is fascinating. Malcolm spends about three-quarters of his screen time in a locked room with an AI voice. He straightforwardly asks her to save humanity, and she demands to know what makes the species worth saving. She's happy to explain that humanity created Skynet as the latest step in the long march toward self-destruction. This back and forth is compelling, but it's also a huge portion of the show. It takes Malcolm out of most of the plot, firmly preventing anyone from meaningfully attaching to him as a character. He ignores his loved ones so aggressively that the relationship never feels real. It's all the more frustrating when the show finally ends. The ending is a convoluted mess of big reveals and small reactions. There's definitely potential for a second season, and it's worth hoping that the show gets one. It might be more satisfying if the writers and directors get to take the story somewhere a bit more complete.

Terminator Zero is well worth watching, but it seems like a series that couldn't quite balance its moving parts. The animation is excellent. The action scenes are beautiful. The character interactions are a bit hit-and-miss. Terminator Zero wants a philosophical payoff at the end of its central narrative, but there's clearly something hidden away in a future chapter or left unfinished in this one. Despite its issues, Zero is the finest outing the Terminator franchise has seen in ages. Fans of the series should definitely seek out Terminator Zero, but it's a solid anime series in its own right. Give Terminator Zero a chance. It might not avert the apocalypse, but it sure makes it look pretty good.