Terminator Zero Review: Eikoes Of The Past

Terminator Zero has turned out like a new recent release of an old franchise. Like Alien Romulus, they are trying to recapture the spirit of the original ideas presented. Like a big old dopamine hit of nostalgia. Does it have anything new to say? To be honest, maybe not. However, it’s amazing how nostalgia and previous knowledge help in this instance. Part of the process in enjoying the show was seeing how they were going to change pre-conceived ideas. However, having enjoyed the show, thinking of Alien: Romulus which I really enjoyed, part of me does think an entire retcon wouldn’t be out of the question at this point.

Terminator: Zero was created by Mattson Tomlin, published and is available to watch on Netflix. The animation was provided by Production I.G. and produced by Skydance.

Of new interpretations of older franchises, Alien: Dark Descent came out last year and made a good impression. Here’s what Rafly Wibowo thought about it. 

Story: There’s No Fate But What We Make For Ourselves, Right?

Terminator Zero begins in the year 2022. Humanity is hiding from Skynet and its army of machines. Living on the brink of extinction, but also realising that Skynet have sent one of their own back in time, humanity send a human named Eiko to protect Dr. Malcolm Lee. Dr. Lee might not have worked on Skynet, but he has been working on an AI called KOKORO. Welcome to Japan. A brand-new city.

Dr. Lee has been having visions of a terrible future – he knows about Skynet. The question is how. He also has three beautiful kids, taken care of mostly by a nanny, Misaki. Eventually Eiko and Misaki come together to take care of the kids and take on the Terminator, while if Dr. Lee does turn on KOKORO, will it decide to save us or subjugate us just like Skynet?

I’ll admit I found myself watching it with a combination of enjoyment and over-familiarity. The action is quite spaced out so I enjoyed it when it came around. While I appreciated having the story with Dr. Lee’s children and Misaki, being children I naturally found some of it to be predictable. Dr. Lee’s philosophy lessons with KOKORO were initially good, but I also found it odd that the character spends almost the entire series with the AI. This plot strand payoff is worth seeing through to its conclusion. I just found it weird he was such an absentee father.

Any Other Ideas?

Also, the focus on fate and avoiding the Terminator meant ideas like exploring human prejudice were kept to a minimum, which was a shame. The big world events which shape the Terminator franchise are still not explored by most of the population, just a handful of people. We also seem to be exploring the same themes which have been discussed in the series for 40 years now. 

Thinking of the Terminator, they did well in making it seem an intimidating killing machine without it being unstoppable. However, I felt that the cast had story immunity at times, making it bad at its job and it became less effective over time.

The beginning of Eiko’s journey. One that will have dire consequences.

Characters & Performances: In Eiko We Trust

In talking about Terminator Zero’s story, I didn’t really cover Eiko, the resistance fighter from the future. I thought she was badass. Very headstrong, smart, committed. And physically capable of taking the challenge on. I liked that we were going back to asking “how would a human take on a machine?”

I thought the kids were fine. They predictably did some daft stuff but it happens in every show. They’re kids and they are written that way. I enjoyed Misaki’s journey. Lady with a past, taking care of the kids, we find out there’s more to her than we expect. And she was also, for a maid of the children, strong willed.

Dr. Malcolm Lee is a tough one. They decided to have him, naturally, be the over-dependant, overworked scientist. And this fit the show, as well as his character arc. I would argue the problem was that it just slowed the pace of the show down. I didn’t mind the scenes themselves. However, because Dr. Lee was at his work for most of the show, we weren’t seeing real work implications of his work until much later. KOKORO I thought was actually interesting, there was maybe too much focus on it, where the more immediate excitement would naturally be about fending off the Terminator.

The Terminator as already stated, was initially intimidating and it was always great to see it on screen. However, it’s also conveniently not great at, well, terminating important people. I was still interested in how they would avoid the ultimate killing machine but it was less threatening as the show went on. On the whole, Eiko and Misaki were the standouts.

Eiko & Misaki were two of the more developed characters.

Cinematography & Sound: Well Done 

Terminator Zero looked great. Certain animations were the first thing I noticed. The cinematography as a graphical aesthetic was brilliant. Background shots looked in 3D – cars coming to a stop at a red light or buildings collapsing, while the 2D animation of the characters on screen in front were really cool to watch. It added a certain sheen that you don’t get in 2D. The actual 2D animation was well done. I enjoyed watching the show. I liked scenes which showed the Terminator as off centre, like we got to follow it around. 

The voice acting is very well done. Nothing is out of place, they sound the way they’re supposed to, it’s great. Sounds effects, cars smashing off walls, guns going off, even normal traffic or the sound of rain was well done. Naturally as The Terminator, Timothy Olyphant is a great actor but his presence was minimalist. He did what he could.

Overall, Terminator Zero’s music was understated. It had pulse synth vibes when the action kicked in. The ambient music which kicks in during emotional and important scenes was impactful. I thought sound effect were well done – with a caveat. Seeing the action and big explosions, I thought it would have been more immersive. On the whole, I enjoyed watching the show.

One thing I enjoyed of Malcolm’s talks with KOKORO was the use of imagery. Here the shackles are coming off.

Editing & Pacing: Episodic Nature Fits

Most episodes were just under have an hour and I felt it was a good length for this story. Terminator Zero having eight episodes was more than long enough to say what it needed to. It’s personal preference naturally, but I felt the story does grind to a halt when deciding to see what Dr. Lee is up to. The outside world was more interesting. Dealing with the kids wasn’t bad but I also enjoyed it more when Eiko was involved. The action was solid. Sometimes I wish it was a little more visceral with the action set pieces. I also thought it was a bit formulaic and couldn’t avoid past series mistakes of saying what the rules are.