Terminator Zero's new trailer promises to stay away from John Connor, but it's all very familiar still
New style, but the franchise continues to run in circles.
Terminator Zero, which is penned by The Batman Part II's Mattson Tomlin, looks pretty solid. But at the same time, it feels like the franchise just can't escape its basic premise, and the anime series' newest trailer is doubling down on what has always worked.
After a number of teases coming straight from Tomlin, who's spent at least a couple of years promising a fresh new take on the property, the teaser trailer was cool enough to make us raise an eyebrow. Now, after watching the main one, it's become clearer the franchise might need a full reset after going offline for a bit.
Mind you, I thought Terminator: Dark Fate (2019) was actually quite ballsy and genuinely decent, as it tried to establish an entirely new conflict from the get-go in spite of retreading much of the Terminator 2 formula we all know and once loved. James Cameron was well aware that the IP had run out of gas after too many post-T2 sequels that just didn't hit the mark, yet he knew some concessions had to be made in order to step into a new era for the sci-fi series. That didn't work out at the box office despite positive-enough reviews, mainly because audiences had been burned out after so many subpar follow-ups, and so the series' big-screen future went dark again.
Now, Terminator Zero is moving even further away from the Connor family and taking the action to Japan, yet we're still about to watch a new Terminator entry that has a cyborg killer from the future coming after a regular person whose actions might be crucial to thwart Skynet's world-ending plans. Once you start to consider the basic premise is pretty much the same and that Skynet is part of the plot, Terminator Zero might actually be more conservative than Dark Fate, which replaced the Skynet-caused Judgment Day with a menace in the shape of an entirely different AI, leading us to consider humanity might just be cosmically cooked in the Terminator universe. But hey, the 'techno noir' vibes are back!
Anyway, I guess Terminator Zero looks good regardless. Despite some CG slop plaguing otherwise good-looking scenes, Production I.G's touch can be felt throughout the entire preview, and Masashi Kudō's involvement adds weight to the entire endeavor. Moreover, the cast includes talent such as Timothy Olyphant, André Holland, Sonoya Mizuno, and Ann Dowd, which signals this isn't a cheap one. Will it move the franchise into uncharted territory though? Probably not. Terminator Zero drops on Netflix on Judgment Day, August 29.
Maybe Terminator Salvation (2009) marked the most interesting path forward after all (despite not being very good). Let us just watch the future war, against Skynet or Legion, unfold.