opinion | “True Lies” is one of the biggest box office hits of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s career. A remake of the film is now available on Disney+, albeit in series form. Our editor Michael Hille took a look – and is more than disappointed.
The one with one Links marked with a symbol or underline are affiliate links. If a purchase is made, we will receive one commission – at no extra cost to you! More info
Sure: Whether in “Terminator” or “Predator”, there was really no lack of big hits in Arnold Schwarzenegger’s career. One of his best films, however, is undeniably 1994’s ‘True Lies.’ Arnie (as his fans like to call him) stars as top spy Harry Tasker, who lives his life as a secret agent à la James Bond However, he has to keep it a secret from his own wife, Helen Tasker (horror legend Jamie Lee Curtis). But this secrecy puts a strain on his marriage – until Helen finally becomes involved in her husband’s turbulent professional life via detours.
Great action with insane stunts and great chemistry between Schwarzenegger and Curtis made “True Lies” A deserved action film classic. Now, almost 30 years later, he’s back – adapted as a series with a new cast. You can see it since April 19th Disney+a new episode appears every week. But is the series worth it? Well: fans of the film will probably be irritated above all.
Cult films become series – not a new phenomenon
CBS Paramount Television
Steve Howey and Ginger Gonzaga replace Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jaime Lee Curtis in True Lies.
Nostalgia currently dominates pop culture. So that Cult films reworked in series format is no longer a rare phenomenon in recent years. Think of the TV adaptation of “Lethal Weapon”, which ran for three full seasons, the sci-fi series “Minority Report” based on the Steven Spielberg masterpiece of the same name, the series versions of “Taken” and “12 Monkeys” or the year 2017, when there was even an attempt to make a series out of the brutal crime thriller “Training Day” – with little success.
So now “True Lies”. Harry Tesker is now played by Steve Howey (“Shameless”), his wife Helen now embodies Ginger Gonzaga (“She-Hulk”). As in the film, Harry is a super spy and his wife has no idea. At least not in the first episode. Because what happens in episode 1, the first 45 minutes of the series, is sort of a mini version of the original film. Helen learns the truth about her husband, becomes embroiled in a spy story and their marriage receives a new awakening as a secret is uncovered. After the prelude, the question arises: What does the series want to tell now that it has already covered the whole plot of “True Lies”?
The series is called “True Lies”, but it is reminiscent of another film
CBS Paramount Television
The series is called “True Lies”, but has little in common with the movie.
Well, since Helen now knows the truth about her husband, she is recruited by the same spy agency and immediately demonstrates amazing talents that are ideal for agent life. So Helen joins her husband and his team of spies. In each episode they investigate a new case and travel around the world to do so. And from here you can accuse the series of being brutal false labeling to operate. All this has little to do with “True Lies”. The attraction of the film was that an exaggerated James Bond cut must do everything possible to save the world on the one hand and to hide his double life from his wife on the other. The series grabs it right away.
Instead, they shot something else here, namely a kind of series version of “Mr. & Mrs. Smith”. The action hit starring Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie was about unknowing spouses who both work for different intelligence agencies, discover each other’s secret identities and, after some back and forth, end up working together against their enemies. Some of that can be seen in the “True Lies” series – among other things, because Helen is immediately superior to her husband as an agent career changer in many ways and so a small competition arises.
Only a few “true lies” – but is the series at least good?
So “True Lies” has almost nothing to do with the film original. Is the series at least good? Unfortunately, one searches in vain for tension and originality in the episodes. The individual spy missions are so disturbingly boring, as if the screenwriters themselves had little interest in the agent genre. In addition, the cast is a flop: Arnold Schwarzenegger once effortlessly managed the balancing act between charming spy and staid family man, while Steve Howey seems bland in both facets. His co-stars Mike O’Gorman, Omar Benson Miller and Erica Hernandez are as shockingly colorless as it gets. Only Ginger Gonzaga comes off surprisingly well as Helen Tesker, is believable both in action scenes and in dramatic moments, but can’t save much.
Especially with regard to the fact that the name of the series is attached to one of the most bombastic of all 90s action films, makes one look all the more dismayed at the action scenes. Not only are they not worth mentioning, but they are often badly tricked and cut in a confusing way. For a series like “Hawaii Five-0” this level would be perfectly acceptable – but if you use the title of an expensive blockbuster that showed insane and spectacular stunts with tons of pyrotechnics, then that’s just not enough.
It seems as if the unconditional desire for nostalgia on the part of Hollywood’s production forges is so great that new editions of old hits are sometimes commissioned without rhyme or reason, without having a sensible concept for them – and without hiring someone behind the scenes who really has passion and love for the original. None of those involved had any euphoria for the “True Lies” film – stupid for everyone who is looking in because of this title.
The True Lies series is available on Disney+.
