Netflix’s ‘Terminator Zero’ restores faith in an ailing sci-fi franchise (review)

Warning: Mild spoilers ahead!

Watching Arnold Schwarzenegger plucking out his cybernetic eyeball in director James Cameron’s 1984 sci-fi classic “The Terminator” would tend to have a traumatic effect on any youngster seeing the film on a grainy VHS copy in the ’90s. That’s exactly what happened to “Terminator Zero’s” writer, creator and showrunner Mattson Tomlin when he was just eight years old.

This new adult animated series from Netflix is that timely Terminator-centric project that fans have been praying for after suffering through the last two sequels, “Terminator Genisys” and “Terminator: Dark Fate.” Partnering with “Bleach” director Masashi Kudo, Tomlin has injected this killer project with that same sense of abject horror he experienced as a child who had to shut the video tape off and return it.

Tomlin and Kudo bring a remarkably focused intensity and ferocious creativity to “Terminator Zero,” and, as you breeze through the eight insanely entertaining episodes, you might wonder why it’s taken so long for someone to come along and produce an anime series set in the “Terminator” universe. But puzzlement will soon give way to gratitude that this rare project was shepherded by two passionate talents, and that Netflix gave the initial green light for it to come online at all.

Removed from the U.S./Mexico border region, the setting of past “Terminator” installments, this first-ever animated iteration takes place in Tokyo. Its script focuses on that most auspicious of dates in “Terminator” canon — Judgment Day, Aug. 29, 1997. We follow Eiko, a young female freedom fighter from the future who travels back in time to 1997, where she must confront a genius scientist named Malcolm Lee. Lee has created an advanced AI he calls Kokoro to help defend humanity against Skynet’s extermination agenda. Also targeting Lee and his children is a ruthless T-800 assassin from 2022 whose programming requires it to also stop the scientist and his work.

Related: ‘Terminator Zero’ embraces the horror of time-traveling killer robots in new Netflix series

“Terminator Zero’s” stellar voice cast includes Timothy Olyphant (“Justified”) as the Terminator, André Holland (“Moonlight”) as Malcolm Lee, Rosario Dawson (“Ahsoka”) as Kokoro, Sonoya Mizuno (“House of the Dragon”) as Eiko, and Ann Dowd (“The Handmaid’s Tale”) as the Prophet.

First and foremost, “Terminator Zero” exhibits the pure DNA of the two James Cameron-helmed “Terminator,” films which Tomlin has the utmost respect and adoration for — 1984’s “Terminator” and 1991’s “Terminator 2: Judgment Day,” aiming to replicate the fear and flair that made this such an iconic franchise for the past 40 years. Tomlin has crafted the engaging plot to exist in two distinct timelines, that of 2022 after Judgment Day has arrived, and 1997 on the eve of that apocalyptic event when Skynet became self-aware and carried out nuclear Armageddon.

For the Terminator’s character design, Tomlin did a bit of research and discovered in an old interview that Cameron was thinking of casting Lance Henriksen as the Terminator since the character was originally envisioned as the ultimate infiltrator. This homicidal cyborg was someone who would blend into any crowd while hunting down its human prey. Gone here is the bulky bodybuilder physique, replaced by a lean, sweaty figure with an off-kilter expression and scary demeanor.

Production I.G (“Ghost in the Shell”) has done a masterful job in producing the bloody, bullet-riddled animation here, and the finished product reflects love, care and attention to detail. Bleak Tokyo cityscapes are punctuated by lurid patches of saturated color. Brilliant muzzle flares leap from chattering machine guns. Hyper-alloy endoskeletons gleam in the cold glare of factory illumination. It’s a complete sensory envelopment elevating the miniseries to impressive heights.

The level of gore and violence in “Terminator Zero” is what fans of hardcore anime and science fiction have come to expect, and it does not disappoint in that arena. Yet it’s all grounded in a very humanistic story in which existential questions are asked and critical choices have unthinkable consequences. Since Tomlin was the co-screenwriter of director Matt Reeves’ “The Batman” and its upcoming sequel, “The Batman II,” the filmmaker’s love of dark material shines through in every sequence.

But what pulls together this sci-fi sensation that pivots back to the property’s slasher roots is the penetrating synthesizer score from composers Michelle Birsky and Kevin Henthorn. Their haunting music offers a moody, mildly melancholy accompaniment to each episode, from driving electronic tracks to bittersweet piano interludes as intercontinental ballistic missiles soar into the sky or the three ghostly avatars of Kokoro’s digital consciousness explain the true nature of time and fate.

Birsky and Henthorn are both friends and collaborators of Tomlin, who also provided the score to his directorial debut titled “Mother/Android,” which was also centered around AI and robots.

Related: How to watch the Terminator films in order

As the series’ narrative unfolds and the final two episodes offer a number of startling revelations and unexpected plot twists, anyone familiar with any of the “Terminator” films and lore will be rewarded with a satisfying conclusion that pays off in myriad ways to expand the mythology and pave a perfect path for future Netflix seasons.

“Terminator Zero” succeeds in not only serving up thoughtful ideologies regarding the nature of humankind, but also presents provocative extrapolations on the inexact logistics of time travel and how changing the past doesn’t directly affect the future, only threads of these freshly formed alternative timelines. The execution and explanation of these elements is one aspect of its effort to get the science right and make the type of cool “Terminator” show Tomlin had always dreamed of.

With loyal “Terminator” fans expressing their unhappiness with the most recent Hollywood live-action sequels involving Skynet’s killer robots and time-traveling saviors, the focus here on Judgment Day returns this iconic property to its proper position where more stories within its universe can be born, hopefully all overseen by Tomlin and Kudo, who make a formidable creative pair.

Presented by Skydance and Production I.G, “Terminator Zero” is currently streaming all eight episodes exclusively on Netflix.