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Join Telegram ChannelFranck Gastambide translates his passion for MMA into a stunning series. In every sense of the word.
There are those who subscribe to RMC Sport and there are others. A discipline that has been booming in France for several years, MMA is now entitled to its series on Netflix with The Cage. A series designed by a fan, for fans of this ultra-violent combat sport.
Franck Gastambide has been into the game of MMA for a while and his passion undoubtedly shines through in this story telling the rise of a young fighter. Taylor is a regular at the gym of the guy we call The Boss. The coach trains young MMA talents, boys or girls, with the main objective of joining the UFC, the American league which pays a maximum. While he dreams of glory, Taylor is sent back to the ropes by the Boss, who doesn't see any real potential in him. Except that one day, Taylor knocks out one of MMA's rising stars during an impromptu fight in the octagon. The video is going viral and the young boy is going to seize his chance…
There is undeniably something of a Rocky modern – or a Creed – In The Cage. This nervous brawler with stars in his eyes as soon as he steps into the ring. This tough athlete, who will make his place, against all odds, by force of fists. The difference is that we can get excited about Rockyan intoxicating boxing opera, without knowing anything about the noble art. The same cannot be said of The Cageas the series is aimed at an audience of insiders. Of course, Franck Gastambide instilled a little pedagogy in his script so that we understand what MMA is, its rules (because yes, there are rules), its mythology (around the Holy Grail UFC) and its Gods. But when the entire plot hinges on the cameos of George Saint-Pierre, Jon Jones Or Cyril Ganelegends of the octagon totally unknown to ordinary Netflix subscribers, we understand that The Cage is especially intended to please those who watch the fights live on Saturday evenings on RMC Sport.
Besides, real commentators, like Anthony Simonare also in the cast of the series to animate all of young Taylor's fights. They are particularly excellent at bringing to life what is the true success of The Cage : his struggles. Gastambide plants his camera in the middle of this fenced ring and films each confrontation with striking realism. We're having a blast at the same time as Taylor. If the (almost) total absence of blood spurting questions – because it bleeds seriously in MMA – we must recognize that the fight is spectacular, the choreography careful. And in this Cage, Melvin Boomer defends himself wonderfully. The former Joey Starr from the NTM series visibly worked intensely on his body and his gestures to make it all seem credible. And we must also salute the animal performance of Bosch. The rapper crossed in Valid (by Gastambide) plays a furious fighter who exudes real terror in the middle of the ring. An impressive villain.
The big problem of The Cageis that between fights, it's flat encephalogram. Taylor's story reads like a bad soap opera, with an abusive mother and completely underwritten sidekick friends (one whose role is to say all the time: 'legendary “). Gastambide takes the highway rocky show. He multiplies the sequences of training clips to show that his foal is progressing. Dozens of minutes to watch Melvin Boomer hitting the void to the sound of generic music. Exhausting. After two episodes, our young wolf from the Parisian suburbs is already training in the cold prairies of Canada with the greatest MMA fighter of all time (without us really understanding why). The friendly George Saint-Pierre thus plays a certain role in the story, except that he is clearly not very comfortable in front of a camera…
After 5 episodes, we prefer to throw in the towel. Franck Gastambide is declared the winner by knockout His series on MMA does no harm to the sport and will absolutely delight fans in the octagon. Too bad if he leaves everyone else at the foot of the ring.
La Cage, season 1 in 5 episodes, on Netflix, to watch from November 8.