Netflix’s Terminator show has a fantastic 100% Rotten Tomatoes rating

A brand new Netflix show currently has a perfect Rotten Tomatoes score, and just about everyone will recognise what it’s based on, from just a glance.

Terminator Zero is an anime-style spin-off of the classic Terminator movie franchise. We’ve not seen a new film from the series since 2019’s Terminator: Dark Fate, and this show has fared much better with critics.

It’s an eight-episode series in which (and this may sound familiar) a warrior from the future is sent back to protect a scientist.

That scientist is Malcolm Lee, who is working on an AI to compete with Skynet. And if you’ve forgotten everything you ever knew about Terminator, that’s the force behind all those metal bad guys.

Timothy Olyphant plays the Terminator in Terminator Zero, André Holland is Lee and Sonoya Mizuno plays Eiko, the fighter sent back to protect him.

Terminator Zero’s awesome animation style is courtesy of Japan’s Production I.G., the studio behind animated classics like Ghost in the Shell, Psycho-Pass and Blood: The Last Vampire.

It’s a little early to tell whether Terminator Zero will hold onto its 100% Rotten Tomatoes rating for good. But the early reports sure are positive.

Terminator Zero reviews

Bloody Disgusting’s 4/5 review says it’s “one of the franchise’s most satisfying stories and far more than some animated oddity,” and concludes “humanity’s battle against AI super-soldiers hasn’t been this fun in years."

Discussing Film’s 5/5 review is one of the most positive out there. “It is utterly fantastic and worthy of comparison to the brilliance of James Cameron’s original films,” says the review.

“Not only are the action and horror elements well done, but the Netflix anime series and its creators also have something meaningful to say about humanity, our resilience, our faults, and how we treat the planet and each other.”

Total Film gave Terminator Zero a strong 4/5 review: “With Terminator Zero, the franchise also makes a welcome return to the terror of Cameron's first movie, which was essentially a horror in all but name (albeit in a sci-fi setting).”

The Hollywood Reporter liked the show too: “Terminator Zero sets a solid framework for an ongoing story that is, like the best parts of the franchise, as much about very human choices as it is about spectacle.”

There are issues, of course. And it’s important to remember a review only needs to be scored 6/10 or higher to be considered “fresh” over at Rotten Tomatoes HQ.

Less positive reviews highlight that the story becomes a little convoluted, with one too many twists involved. The first half of the series can feel too much like a retread of the early Terminator movies too, which you might have guessed from the show’s familiar premise.

Terminator Zero is clearly worth a watch for anyone remotely interested in the Terminator series, though. We just hope series writer Mattson Tomlin gets to continue this project. According to Popverse, he has a five or six-season arc in mind.

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