You won’t see the Terminator franchise anywhere near the lineup of upcoming 2025 movies, as James Cameron’s franchise is still in cinematic stasis. It’s not hard to see why, as we’re approaching the fifth anniversary of Dark Fate’s horrific box office performance, and those results still have fans smarting. More recently, that film's director, Tim Miller, weighed in on why he thought the sixth entry in the series bombed. Simultaneously, his comments only led me to think more about what the recent Netflix series Terminator Zero did so well.
What's Tim Miller’s Explanation For Why Terminator: Dark Fate Bombed?
As the man behind Prime Video’s upcoming animated anthology Secret Level was visiting Italy’s Lucca Comic and Games festival, Variety was on hand to interview him about the project. His latest production is a collection of stories based on existing video game IP, so the subject of adaptation was firmly in view during the chat. That led to Tim Miller making these comments on his approach to Terminator: Dark Fate, and the fallout that ensued:
… I’m a nerd, so I’m trying to do what I would want to see as a nerd. Now, my Terminator movie didn’t exactly set the world on fire, even though I approached it with that principle, which goes to show. … Nobody sets out to disregard someone’s closely held childhood dreams. It’s no cause for vitriol. A lot of people didn’t like “Terminator: Dark Fate” for reasons I had nothing to do with. One, because it was the sixth film and another because we killed John Connor at the start, but if Jim Cameron wants that to happen – which I agree with by the way – then that’s what you do.
Anyone who followed the drama surrounding the most recent chapter in the Connor family legacy likely knows the stories about Tim Miller’s Terminator disagreements with James Cameron. And, while the two parties seem to have mended fences, they’re definitely not on the same page about where Dark Fate went wrong. At the same time, civility still reigns in this tale of conflicting cases.
For Miller, the big swing of killing John Connor in the film’s prologue seems to be where things went awry. Meanwhile, James Cameron’s blunt Dark Fate thoughts, which were shared earlier this year, put the blame on audiences not showing up. The thematic disagreements of the past are still in place but, at least, the discussion still feels like it's on the more pleasant side of things.
While this isn’t as contentious as the more heated stories that came out of the production, there’s clearly still a bit of a disconnect between both men. That gulf of opinion is also what allows me to once again talk about how good Terminator Zero is, which is an opportunity I’ll always take someone up on.
How This Terminator Sequel Reminds Me Of What Terminator Zero Did Right
One late night showing on HBO was all it took for me to fall in love with The Terminator. My love of sci-fi, especially stories with robots and time travel involved, was a consequence of watching this tale of trying to beat back Armageddon, and I’ll forever be thankful for that.
So, when showrunner/writer Mattson Tomlin and director Masashi Kudō were confirmed to be developing an anime set in that universe, I was kind of skeptical after remembering my own distaste for Dark Fate’s story. I couldn’t have been more wrong for having those feelings, especially after Terminator Zero’s trailer made Judgment Day look even more horrifying.
But, besides the look and feel of the series being top notch, the story pulled the one move the franchise should have made a long time ago: telling a story that didn’t directly involve John Connor. Instead, the main thrust of Zero’s narrative is whether or not the brilliant programmer Malcolm Lee (voiced by André Holland in the English dub) can fight Skynet’s takeover in 1997 with an AI of his own.
I don’t want to say much more, because Zero really does have to be experienced first hand. But, by moving past merely throwing John or Sarah Connor into battle yet again, with the aid of another T-800 based off the likeness of a random military officer, Netflix’s animated series didn’t bother to touch the Terminator legacy that came before it.
All the animated show had to do was tell its own story, and it had the fighting chance it needed to stand out. And, as a result, it swiftly avoided the trap that Dark Fate fell into. The fact that this tale was actually pretty damned good -- and also honored the first two Terminator flicks -- is something that not only should please die-hard fans but also win over any new eyes that want to discover that there’s no fate but what we make for ourselves.
Perhaps we need more potential anime continuations of Hollywood franchises. That’s a topic we can all debate for days on end, to be sure. But what I won’t debate is how awesome Terminator Zero is; which is something you can experience by using your Netflix subscription. Feel free to compare that series to Terminator: Dark Fate, if you dare. Yet I have a feeling you’ll agree that the anime medium has treated James Cameron’s creation rather well.
