Fubar: Arnold Schwarzenegger is ready for TV. But is TV ready for ...

25 May 2023

The Irish Times

Arnold Schwarzenegger is ready for TV. But is TV ready for Arnold? The 1980s action star has jumped from the movies to the small screen with his first starring role for Netflix. But while Fubar (streaming from today) has the best intentions, its comedy and action mix – Arnold’s core skill set – never entirely comes together. With Schwarzenegger throwing himself into the mayhem, it’s fun – but there isn’t enough going on to add up to anything substantial.

Schwarzenegger is that unique action hero with a sense of humour to go with the pecs appeal. In Fubar he plays to confused-muscle-man type as Luke Brunner, a suburban gym owner with a secret second life as an international spy. Or, more precisely, a soon-to-be-former second life: with retirement beckoning, he’s looking forward to knocking the globetrotting on the head and winning back his ex-wife (who has no idea he’s been a spook for the past 40 years).

There’s a wrinkle, however. After leaving college, his grown-up daughter, Emma (Monica Barbaro), likewise joined the CIA. All this time, father and daughter have been dashing around the world and fighting evildoers entirely oblivious to the other’s career choice.

But now Emma has gone AWOL while deep undercover, tackling an international terrorist with a sideline in nuclear warheads. Oh, and there’s a second wrinkle: the terrorist, Boro (Diego Luna), was semi-adopted by Brunner after Arnold’s character chucked Boro’s terrorist dad off a cliff 35 years earlier.

Back in the days of Commando and Red Heat, Schwarzenegger would have jumped headfirst into the chaos. At 75 he can no longer pass for a one-person demolition squad, but he tackles the fight scenes with enthusiasm and charm nonetheless. That’s just as well, because in other ways Fubar misfires.

One problem is that it looks to have been put together on a shoestring. In the action genre, Schwarzenegger is the only special effect you need. Yet, in Fubar, tacky CGI is a constant distraction. As is the strained banter between Brunner and his hacker sidekick, Barry (Milan Carter). They aim for quippy, but the results are sadly icky.

What does work is the father-daughter chemistry between Schwarzenegger and Barbaro as Emma. Schwarzenegger has always brought top-drawer “confused dad” energy, and here he is convincing as an oldster who wants to retire and not be drawn into his daughter’s drama.

Action fans will be delighted that Schwarzenegger is back, and Fubar is far from a damp squib. But the humour is uneven, and you wonder why Netflix didn’t splash out on better special effects. The result is a series that is both great fun but also a bit of a missed opportunity.