This morning I caught glimpse of Arnie's latest Netflix promotion: the appointed 'Chief Action Officer' at the streaming company is in a slightly cringeworthy awkward elevator scene with Chris Hemsworth. But, whatever, I love Arnie's corny one-liners and it made me chuckle at its ridiculousness.
What's also ridiculous is that Schwarzenegger's latest Netflix-exclusive series, Fubar, is still at the number one spot in the UK on the streaming service – despite being knocked off the top spot in other territories, such as the USA. Clearly we Brits love a bit of Arnie.
Or, actually, do we? Because Fubar season one has a measly 50% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes, while the general public give it a slightly warmer 70% audience score. Still, that's hardly anything to write home about, given some of Netflix's best shows in 2023 have scored way higher.
So the big question: is Fubar worth your time? Well, I flirted with watching the show, getting perhaps 15 minutes into episode one before the outside sunshine of that thing called the weekend lured me away from the TV. Not even Arnie's ultra-appeal could keep my eyes glued to the screen.
But I'm willing to give it another shot. I think it's really about expectation: Fubar isn't going to be a beard-twizzling, head-scratcher epic that'll keep you guessing; it's an out-and-out action-comedy series. That was immediately apparent.
Even Netflix's own description – "when a father and daughter discover they both secretly work for the CIA, an already dicey undercover mission turns into a dysfunctional family affair" – has Arnie written all over it, doesn't it?
So, like the lead image of this very article, is it a dumpster fire or is this eight-part series just pure fire? I'm going to be digging into the cheesy comedy with an open mind and giving Schwarzenegger a second chance...
