By James Field | TV | April 20, 2023 |
By James Field | TV | April 20, 2023 |
I’m a fan of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s sunset years. He’s remarkably sane for an aging movie star and Republican politician, he’s loudly pro-vaccine and anti-racist, and he loathes Donald Trump with a fiery passion. He’s not perfect, but he’s also not a raging jerk, and that’s good enough for me. And while Monica Barbaro was under-utilized in Top Gun: Maverick, she was solid in Stumptown and worth watching. So I’m interested to see how they work together in Schwarzenegger’s first television series, FUBAR, Netflix’s desperate attempt to capture the True Lies magic that escaped the CBS reboot.
The series is going to be huge for Netflix, particularly given the massive popularity of action-spy series of late. Reacher and Jack Ryan have been huge for Prime Video and they have another coming out next week in Citadel. Last month’s mediocre Night Agent is already the sixth biggest series in Netflix history, and their Recruit played well over the holidays (and gained a second-season renewal). Basically, streaming spy series are the new Marvel movie, and this one not only stars Arnold Schwarzenegger but someone arguably just as important: The father-in-law of The Terminal List’s Chris Pratt.
Here, Arnold plays Luke Brunner, a 65-year-old CIA operative ready for retirement who’s thrown for a loop when he discovers his daughter, Emma (Barbaro) is also an agent. The two are forced to work together against a grave national threat while Luke adjusts to the fact his daughter’s all grown up and shooting people. Fair warning: there are several spoilers in the latter half of the trailer, so you might want to tap out after 90 seconds.
Luke and Emma are no Harry and Dana, but it looks cute. Schwarzenegger’s charm is in full effect, and even though his bones should shatter multiple times during the trailer alone, he looks as energetic as ever. Barbaro looks capable of holding her own while acting against him. The supporting cast is solid too, including Adam Pally (Happy Endings, Sonic the Hedgehog), Fortune Feimster (The Mindy Project, Velma), and Barbara Eve Harris (Messiah, Bosch). Plus, the IMDb page hints at a Tom “Gib” Arnold guest appearance. The series premieres May 25 on Netflix.