FUBAR (2023)

Title: FUBAR

Year: 2023

Genre:  Action | Adventure | Thriller |

Seasons: 1 |

Runtime:  45-55 min

Creator: Nick Santora

Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Monica Barbaro, Gabriel Luna

6.4/10

A father and daughter have both been working as CIA Operatives for years, but each kept their involvement in the CIA hidden from the other, resulting in their entire relationship is a gigantic lie. Upon learning of each other’s involvement in the CIA, the pair are forced to work together as partners, and against the backdrop of explosive action, and espionage, learn who each other really are.

BLEAK, TIRED AND PREDICTABLE

Fubar, the Netflix series, with Arnold returning in his first TV series main role, doesn’t hit the mark. The roughness of Arnold is still there. The stiffness in his performance, the sloppy and distracting dialogue that doesn’t reflect the character’s motif, ambitions or the goal. It’s obvious that the daughter and the father would work together. Its cheap production essence ruins the initial watching of the series. It could’ve worked. It could have been a senseless series.

What’s even more disturbing is the corny music that consistently destroys the series. Each episode of FUBAR  peels back layers of intrigue, revealing the depths of their individual skills, vulnerabilities, and motivations. As they work together, their true identities and hidden agendas slowly unravel, raising questions about trust, loyalty, and the blurred lines between duty and family.

Jokes fall flat, there’s no buzz between the actors and it only exists from the former republican Governor’s rockstar status. The series is violent but doesn’t justify the corny comedy. It might have been better if they skipped the jokes and humour, it would make far more sense. However, the plot doesn’t make sense.  The fact that a father and daughter didn’t know that they worked for the same organization, is preposterous in this regard.  There’s this constant hunt and chase, with tired performances. The directing feels compromised to the studio’s benefit but not for the audience. It’s just a cheap production with a dull plot and predictable writing by Nick Santora. It’s like a bad Coke or a soap commercial dated 20 years back with bad effects, horrible performances and intolerable editing. 

It could’ve been so much more. The relationship between the over-protective divorced dad and the reclusive daughter is neat but doesn’t save the whole show. It doesn’t save this tiresome story.