The actor makes his debut on digital platforms with a series on the problems of reconciling work and family.
Unlike other action actors of his generation, such as Sylvester Stallone or Bruce Willis, Arnold Schwarzenegger has preferred to keep his legend away from the cinema and being seen only on rare occasions on the big screen. And although they have not always been successful, it must be said that FUBAR has been one of his best choices.
Well, the new Netflix series that premiered on May 25 fits this action hero on the big screen like a glove, since He has managed to capture the essence of the great action films that Schwarzenegger starred in in the 80s, without losing that modern touch that the fact that one of its protagonists is a woman gives it.
In FUBAR, Schwarzenegger brings to life a CIA spy about to retire who must return to action one last time only to find out that Emma, his perfect eldest daughter, is also an agent and the two of them had been working together for years without knowing it.
And not only that, because in addition to finding out that his daughter works for the Agency, he also he will begin to meet a new Emma, capable of fighting men hand to handwho swears and has a deep grudge against his father for the many times he disappeared for work reasons.
A classic spy movie
Despite the fact that FUBAR is a Netflix series, and not a movie, the truth is that Drink from the great spy movies of a few decades ago in which the protagonists did not pull so much from technology and from their physical abilities to be able to “save the day” in the purest Mission Impossible style.
Of course, neither Schwarzenegger nor Monica Barbaro endanger their lives as much as Tom Cruise does, but they do They give viewers great moments of action trying to escape from militias in the middle of the jungle or stopping a bullet train with radioactive waste.
For the Brenners, the most important thing is to fulfill the mission and that is what causes the major friction between father and daughter, above all because of the very different methods with which they want to achieve their objective and the constant fear, usual in a father, of the Schwarzenegger character who does not want to see his daughter being hurt.
While is true that the resolutions of the conflicts in the series are somewhat fanciful (we are sure that a bullet train does not stop like they do in the Netflix series), this is not an issue that has bothered us in movies like James Bond and it is not something that bothers FUBAR either.
This new series is made for the total enjoyment of the viewer and achieves its goal on a fairly good note, despite the fact that at times the fact that each mission that the father and daughter embark on ends up twisting, putting the lives of both protagonists or the future of the world to the limit.
Of course, there’s also a lousy bad guy out to get rich with a nuclear bomb played by the great Gabriel Luna, who seems very comfortable in his role as a guerrilla leader with a psychopathic streak. Another of FUBAR’s strengths is the fact that they don’t dwell on violence and torture scenes, for example, are seen out of shot. What is appreciated.
Netflix
expendable secondaries
Although, in general, FUBAR works very well, there is a detail that does not quite fit in the Schwarzenegger series: its supporting cast, especially Fortune Feimster’s agent Roo, who is made to be comic relief alongside Travis Van Winkle’s character Aldon.
Beyond the fact that it is difficult to understand what their role is within the agency, their continuous off-key comments, or even his constant contempt for other characters, they are exhausting. Especially the part that refers to Roo, who despite being a lesbian woman has some comments more typical of the “brother-in-law on duty”.
Luckily his presence does not mar the primary relationship between Luke Brenner and his daughter, Emma, which works perfectly thanks to the chemistry between Schwarzenegger and Barbaro, both very well camouflaged in their characters. On the one hand, that of an overprotective father who is overwhelmed by the modern world, and on the other, that of a daughter who only wants to make his own life.
In summary, although Schwarzenegger’s expressive capacity has been somewhat diminished by age (and probably by the steroids of youth), FUBAR is a more than entertaining series, perfect for having a good time and with which it shows that the actor has enjoyed doing it a lot. A positive point for Netflix.
VALUATION:
FUBAR works perfectly as a spy series thanks to the chemistry of its two protagonists and their father-daughter relationship that will make many viewers feel identified. There are secondary characters that add nothing to the plot and whose comic relief is sometimes tiresome.
THE BEST:
The series works perfectly thanks to non-stop action and the chemistry between Arnold Schwarzenegger and Monica Barbaro.
WORST:
The plot is somewhat repetitive and the secondary ones don’t quite work, especially those that try to add humor.
