This year, Netflix broadcast its first live MMA event in partnership with Most Valuable Promotions (MVP). The event was streamed on the platform worldwide with no extra charges, and it attracted millions of viewers. How do you capitalize on this success? How do you draw in more MMA fans or convert existing subscribers into MMA fans so that your live-streaming business continues to reap greater rewards? Well, you are talking about a platform that releases a documentary about an XYZ killer and then also releases a feature film about the same killer (Elize: Shadows of a Woman is one example). It's no surprise, then, that Netflix has come up with a new Brazilian series set in the world of MMA to boost the popularity of this combat sport among its subscribers in an attempt to go deeper into the live-streaming business.
The major problem that arises from such ventures is that it's easy to see through their intentions. Devoid of artistic merit or even casual fun, these projects merely help you pass the time without ever immersing you in their drama. All a viewer can do is sit back in their chair like a robot and let the story unfold at its own dull tempo. Shows like Wrath (or Fúria) force passivity upon us. They "hold our attention" by being busy juggling various unremarkable plot threads. There is Marcelo (Vinicius Neri), who doesn't remember anything about his past and has a strange tattoo on his arm. There is Toni (Fábio Lago), an MMA coach and the owner of the Trindade gym who owes debt to Didi (Cláudia Raia), a loan shark. Toni's rival is Yana (Bianca Comparato), the owner of the Alpha Rio gym who has a tendency to poach Toni's best fighters. Her latest acquisition is Malamute (MC Cabelinho), who instantly gets seduced by Alpha Rio's luxurious appearance and parts ways with his longtime master. You might be thinking, "What a backstabber," but Malamute says that he, too, took care of Toni and his daughter, Gabi (Alice Carvalho), when Toni used to be a drunkard. As far as Malamute knows, he and Toni owe nothing to each other.
The good news is that Malamute exits at the right moment. Toni finds his new best fighter in Marcelo, and given the brief flashbacks to his past, you can be sure he is superior to Malamute in every respect. You can also be sure that Marcelo and Malamute will confront one another in the arena, and the outcome of that fight will not register as a big shock. This is exactly how Wrath is in a nutshell: nothing here seems extraordinary enough to leave a lasting punch. Wrath, in fact, belongs to that category of streaming drama where dramatic clichés are inserted not with vigor but with a mechanical motion. The images are colorful yet indifferent; there are violent physical confrontations, yet nothing provides you with an adrenaline rush. The matches themselves, after a while, look monotonous because they don't have much visual variety or an intense electric charge. Still, if one were to isolate all these sports scenes from the larger narrative and stitch them together, what emerges is a promotional reel for mixed martial arts. That only further clarifies why Wrath, in the first place, was greenlit. It serves the function of an advertisement.
Whatever the objective behind making the show, Lago still gives a very fierce performance. Has anyone told him that he can play the role of Vincent Cassel's father or brother? When Lago's Toni seethes with anger, you feel as if he will volcanically erupt. Among all the actors, he gives you the impression of being present in the moment. Lago appears alive and volatile and strong. He has some kind of presence. Raia, as a loan shark, promises to unleash a funny, sensual force, but her character, and by extension her potential, remains undeveloped. Cabelinho is good at bringing forth his youthful arrogance, which, combined with his belief in treating his opponents as equals, lends him an interesting dimension—one that Wrath nonetheless severely dilutes by mainly displaying him in the form of a one-note caricature. Other cast members are more or less fine or serviceable. They get the basic job done.
By keeping Marcelo's past a secret until the penultimate episode, Wrath sustains a basic level of curiosity among its viewers. But even that reveal, unfortunately, lands with a thud. It's not just the fact that it's the kind of twist you could have easily guessed or written yourself; what's irritating is that Wrath doesn't lend depth to the relationships between the involved characters, choosing instead to portray them with generic labels like "wife" and "son." Wrath also, during the flashback, fails to offer weight to the suggestion that Marcelo's brute force might be an outcome of his poor life—his forceful punches are their own form of rebellion. The show lightly winks at the thought before abandoning it altogether. Its primary focus is on treating sound and image as a channel for exposition, which is why Wrath is lacking in creative fire. No wonder nothing in the series ever makes you sit up. No scene sticks out; no shot strikes you as inspired. Wrath is simply impotent. It has all the vigor of a wet towel.
Final Score - [4/10]
Reviewed by - Vikas Yadav
Follow @vikasonorous on Twitter
Publisher at Midgard Times