New FUBAR Trailer Shows Arnold in Action

Television

Arnold’s back, and like his fellow action legend Sylvester Stallone, he’s setting his sights on streaming. Netflix has released a full trailer for the upcoming action-comedy series FUBAR, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. Arnold plays a retired spy who plans to spend his twilight years focusing on the family he neglected most of his life. When he’s called back in by his agency to rescue an operative who’s gone missing, he’s shocked to discover the missing agent is his daughter. Hilarity (or, more likely, the occasional mild chuckle) and explosions ensue. In addition to Arnold, FUBAR stars Monica Barbaro, Jay Baruchel, Aparna Brielle, Gabriel Luna, Milan Carter, Fortune Feimster, and Fabiana Udenio. Created by Nick Santora, FUBAR arrives on Netflix on May 25, 2023, and you can see the trailer below:

This is a first-day binge for me. FUBAR looks like it could be a lot of fun, although, based on this trailer, the title is a bit misplaced. (I remember my friends telling me how they learned what “FUBAR” meant after seeing Saving Private Ryan; that was when I realized my friends had never seen Tango & Cash.) Is my love of Arnold making me overlook some drawbacks? You bet. The supporting cast looks excruciating, and not a single one of their lame jokes lands. I can already tell I’d prefer it if they all get blown up in the series premiere, and the rest of the show is just Arnold and his daughter. True Lies had Tom Arnold and Grant Heslov as Arnold’s sidekicks, but they were actually funny. Speaking of that amazing movie that needs to get its ass on Blu-Ray, when FUBAR was first announced, I wondered why they didn’t just make it a sequel to True Lies with Arnold and Jamie Lee Curtis’ daughter (played by Eliza Dushku in the film) becoming a spy, but now that I see the trailer, I get it. This character is different from Harry Tasker; he hasn’t learned the lessons Harry did in True Lies, and now he’s bonding with his daughter while under fire from terrorists or whoever they’re after.

 I’m also relieved that it doesn’t look like this show exists to embarrass Arnold; he kicks much ass in the FUBAR trailer, and his daughter indicates that she admires and respects her father. There is a lot of comedy between them, though, and while the gags in the trailer aren’t gut-busters, I laughed at a couple (like the lipstick vibrator), and they’re much funnier than anything the sidekicks have to say. The humor comes from Arnold having to come to grips with his daughter growing up, partly in terms of her being a spy and partly in terms of her just being a woman instead of his little girl. They can get some good mileage out of that if they play it right. Finally, Nick Santora being the showrunner is a good sign; he’s behind the excellent Reacher on Amazon, and he’s written an episode of The Sopranos. I have high hopes for this.