FUBAR (2023) – TV Series (8 Parts) – For Fans Only
Cast : Arnold Schwarzenegger. Monica Barbaro. Milan Carter. Gabriel Luna
A secret agent is in a foreign country doing some caper. His guide keeps talking to him through a tiny two-way radio. The hijinks continue, and the secret agent just about escapes with his life after a spectacular ‘action’ scene where the bad guys get killed by the truckloads and –
Wait a minute. That’s the opening scene of True Lies (1994), right? Where the secret agent goes about his action-packed life while his wife thinks he is a boring computer salesman, right?
Why did I keep thinking of True Lies when I completed the series? Simple. Compared with this TV Series, there is more than a passing resemblance to that movie.
The story (huh??) is simple. There is a very nasty terrorist out there selling nuclear bombs to the highest bidder (hello, true lies). On the last day of his retirement, Luke Brunner (Schwarzenegger) is called to help an agent in trouble in South America. Luke supported the nuclear terrorist Boro Polonia’s (Gabriel Luna) education. The agent turns out to be his daughter Emma (Monica Barbaro), and together they must get out of the country immediately while being chased by everyone. Their support team is always with them, and soon the chase for Boro takes them worldwide. During this chase, the father-daughter friction builds up, and she blames him for various things in her life. He still loves his ex-wife, Tally Brunner (Fabiana Udenio) and tries to keep her from meeting various men. A somewhat absent-minded man pursues Emma, and soon her relationship is in trouble. Luke’s cover – instead of computers – is selling fitness machines. Meanwhile, the nuclear auction is on ….
The usual trouble with TV serials is what could be told in three or four episodes is inevitably and unnecessarily stretched to keep to the eight (or ten or twelve) episodes. We soon know what’s going to happen at each stage. There is hardly any surprise as the writing – in keeping with Arnold’s screen presence – is predictable, including the one-liners. Hell -Arnold even says, “I will be back” in passing. Needless to say, all CIA officers make James Bond look like a wimp, considering the amount of stuff they blow up and the tons of people they kill.
So if you are an Arnold fan, go ahead and watch this predictable serial. It looks like a homage to the 1994 film with much better special effects and a suitable update for 21st-century sensibilities (there is even an Indian-origin tech officer, Tina Mukherji played by Aparna Brielle).
As TV series go, it is interesting, and as with many serials these days, the open-ended “ending” leaves room for a season two. I hope not. The serial started well for me, and soon it was a steady downhill acceleration, living up to the title FUBAR – F****** Up Beyond All Recognition.
It is on Netflix (8 episodes)
Overall rating: 2.5 out of 5