The Terminator films were never just about Arnold Schwarzenegger kicking ass and taking down those android hunters. At its core, the Terminator franchise was an emotional, if messy, story about the breakdown of humanity through technology. This theme has been consistently present throughout the franchise, even in the dismally-panned Terminator: Dark Fate. Yet, writer Mattson Tomlin, who’s also on The Batman II, has successfully fleshed out this timely idea through Terminator Zero.
Rather than following the Connor bloodline (which Star Wars is seemingly doing given its impending plans), Terminator Zero weaves its original storylines together. Set moments before the Future War, scientist Malcolm Lee (André Holland) is creating a new system, Kokoro (Sonoya Mizuno), to counter Skynet. However, Terminator (Timothy Olyphant) and Resistance soldier Eiko (Rosario Dawson) travel to the past in an attempt to stop Malcolm.
With humanity’s fate seemingly sealed, time is everything that remains for Malcolm and his children.
Terminator Zero effectively presents its perspectives on humanization by splitting its focus between Malcolm and his children, Kento, Hiro, and Reika. While each character may initially seem underdeveloped, they gradually acquire layers of complexity that allow them to stand out.
Over time, Kento, Hiro, and Reika each embody contrasting views on whether artificial intelligence is truly beneficial. In a way, they become the eyes of the viewer, attempting to reconcile reason with realism through their experiences. However, their youth limits their understanding of the full picture, presenting an intriguing challenge for the siblings to overcome
Meanwhile, Malcolm his “visions of the future” ultimately set him on a path he believes is the only path. Sure, it seems like the usual villain’s motivation, but there is still a sympathetic conviction within Malcolm. There’s still enough good inside him where you want to see him successfully convince Kokoro to fight against Skynet. Unfortunately, Malcolm’s habit of keeping secrets holds him back, which increases Terminator Zero’s high stakes.
As for Kokoro, she is Terminator Zero‘s ticking time bomb, essentially being the antithesis of Skynet. However, the show splits her form into three entities similarly to Malcolm and his children. As such, the show provides several opposing viewpoints from the perspectives of both human and machine.
Thanks to the creative visual choices made as well, the continuous conversations shared between Malcolm and Kokoro are philosophically engaging. These scenes are almost reminiscent of those in AMC+’s Pantheon, which seemingly takes its own undertones from this franchise.
Where Terminator Zero truly feels like the franchise’s namesake is when it involves Eiko and the Terminator himself. Throughout the show, Eiko has to continually protect the children all while trying to get rid of the threat at hand. Eiko may look like the “know-it-all”, but over time, it’s revealed this is not the case and for good reason too.
The Terminator himself is initially what most would expect: a silent, yet deadly killer like the T-800. However, he begins to show his true colors over time as this manipulative machine with an actual purpose outside of his directive. Given Olyphant’s cold performance, this Terminator is really a terrifying antagonist.
Furthermore, the action scenes get really gnarly, almost up to Terminator 2-levels of gory. Blood gets shed, mechanical limbs get ripped apart, and yes, it’s got that iconic burn-your-skin-off nuclear blast. This is especially seen later in the show, when things turn for the worse given the aftermath of Skynet’s activation. The awesome brutality of Terminator Zero is something only a studio like Production IG could accomplish, which they’ve proudly done.
However, at some points, Terminator Zero might become too philosophically or paradoxically confusing, especially in those twisty final four episodes. Given the complexities of Terminator‘s time travel rules, the show’s conclusion may leave fans perplexed about who goes with what. As for Eiko herself, while she is a well-written character, she mostly maintains this one-sided personality for the show’s first half. It is understandable why she has to have this almost hostile determination, yet her subtle changes mostly remain hidden. Nonetheless, Dawson confidently gives Eiko a powerful tenacity.
Terminator Zero is a glorious ode to James Cameron’s original films that honors Terminator‘s prescient philosophy about nature, technology, and ultimately, humanity. By emphasizing the thematic ideas that made the franchise a phenomenon, Mattson Tomlin and his creative team have certainly given Terminator a new life.
Terminator Zero is now streaming on Netflix.
