(TV SERIES) FUBAR - A Fun and Entertaining First Ever Arnold Schwarzenegger's Lead Role in TV Series

This series that was just released on Netflix last week really intrigued me as it starred Arnold Schwarzenegger whose many films I have seen and liked in the past. Plus the premise sounded very interesting. Anyway, I gave this a try during the weekend and completed at the same time. OK, why don't I just get on it now.

Brief Story Line

Luke Brenner (Arnold Schwarzenegger - The Predator, Aftermath etc) was a CIA agent working together with technical support Barry (Milan Carter) and other operatives Roo (Fortune Feimster - Yes Day etc) and Aldon (Travis Van Winkle - The Last Ship TV series etc) under the supervision of regional director Dot (Barbara Eve Harris). After 40 years, Luke decided to retire from CIA as he wanted to focus on winning his divorced wife Tally (Fabiana Udenio - Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery etc) back. He also wanted to get closer to his family, particularly with his adored daughter Emma (Monica Barbaro - Top Gun: Maverick, The Good Cop TV series etc) who never knew Luke's actual line of work.

However, his plan to retire was put on hold when an operative was in danger of being found out by a powerful arms dealer named Boro Polonia (Gabriel Luna - Terminator: Dark Fate etc) that Luke had known for years before. Despite his reluctance, Luke had no choice but to do this assignment. And this would be the start of everything chaotic and hilarious.

So what would happen to them all? You could find out in this series.

End of Brief Story Line

Now that was really fun! As I said earlier, it starred Arnold in what I read was his first ever lead role in a TV series, plus the genre was action comedy which I am a sucker for. To my surprise, for something on small screen like this, the action did not seem cheap at all and got pretty decent effects. And there were some violence from the killings of enemies which I did not think would be shown here, but it was not up to the sadistic or gore level. 

What really made me had fun was obviously the dynamics between Luke and the other characters. So many scenes that would make me laugh out loud particularly in first episode. The subsequent episodes provided plenty of hilarious moments as well, which was probably the reason I could not stop watching the series and finished up in 2 days time. It only consisted of 8 episodes with duration between 45-59 minutes. Out of all those episodes, I think my favorites were the first and third. I also liked the 7th episode, but the finale was something that was too predictable (including those twists), although the ending really got me excited for a second season that hopefully would happen.

The cast did great job in here with Arnold who seemed to be perfect for this kind of role (people said it reminded them of the days when he starred in True Lies, which I agreed). Monica Barbaro was really suitable as Emma and my personal favorite Roo (portrayed wonderfully by Fortune Feimster). Her character was one of those that could give me chuckles with her commentaries and consistent bantering with Aldon. Aside from the names I mentioned above, there were actually other main cast including Jay Baruchel (How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, This is the End etc) as Emma's boyfriend Carter, Aparna Brielle (A. P. Bio TV series etc) as Tina the data analyst from NSA and finally Tally's new boyfriend Donnie (Andy Buckley - The Office TV series etc). So it was actually a pretty large ensemble cast. Not to mention few recurring and guest stars such as Devon Bostick (The 100 TV series etc) as Luke's son Oscar, Scott Thompson (The Kids in the Hall comedy series etc) as Dr. Pfeffer, Adam Pally (Sonic the Hedgehog 2 etc) and Tom Arnold (Nine Months, Mr. 3000 etc). 

The series itself was created by Nick Santora who also created & developed TV series such as Scorpion, Reacher plus writer of some popular series and movies like FBI, Prison Break, Punisher: War Zone and Dog Gone. With such credentials, I think it is no wonder the series was interesting. However, critics did not totally love it as proven by the mixed reviews. But audience seemed to be fine since it became the Top 10 series in Netflix after few days. Btw, I actually felt that it was not only reliant on the comedy and action as there was a bit of drama about relationship too, though obviously not a totally heavy kind of drama. This was felt strongly in the fifth episode.

Overall I think this series was quite entertaining. It might not win the hearts of critics but for casual audience like me who love to see action comedy genre, especially when it starred Arnold Schwarzenegger, I had a wonderful time watching it. The action might not be spectacular but still fun and the comedy arising from the situation was definitely the main highlight. So if you are thinking of what to watch next on Netflix, this would be an interesting option.

Mike's movie moments rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Notes: In case you are wondering, FUBAR is a military acronym for "F***ed/Fouled Up Beyond All Recognition"