Sam Mendes and Armando Iannucci's comedy of errors is always entertaining, if not as sharp as it should be
While few could blame audiences for having superhero fatigue, it's easy to make the argument that the superhero satire has become equally tired. We've seen it done from outside the Marvel/DC system in Prime Video's drama The Boys, and we've gotten meta observations from deep within the system courtesy of this summer's Deadpool & Wolverine. It's only natural that you might eventually run out of things to say about a genre that's been so thoroughly picked apart. What The Franchise, HBO's confident new satire about the less-than-confident production on a mid-tier comic book movie, has going for it is that skewering the genre itself is less important than poking at the industry and the culture that makes these megahits succeed.
The Franchise has a glossy pedigree behind it. The barbed comedy credits Veep creator Armando Iannucci and Academy Award winner Sam Mendes as executive producers (Mendes also directs the pilot), while Succession writer Jon Brown serves as showrunner. Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross handle the score. (The effect is that many episodes feel as though they've been soundtracked by rejected compositions from the duo's Challengers score, but it's not unpleasant.) All of these people are certainly equipped to comment on the state of the franchise film, and here, the titular franchise comes courtesy of the fictional Maximum Studios, which is producing a comic book adaptation called Tecto: Eye of the Storm. Tecto's purpose or objective as a hero is never fully made clear, but he does have an invisible jackhammer and earthquake gloves. That those details are casually and distastefully rattled off by the actors and crew members is the point: Not a soul working on this film actually cares very much about the hero or his journey at all.
That alternately chaotic and apathetic production is where The Franchisefinds its story, centering mostly on Daniel (Himesh Patel), Tecto's overworked first assistant director, who has the most important job on set and holds quiet resentment for everyone around him as a result, even as he gamely keeps the film chugging along. Much of his role revolves around managing the egos of the talent: insecure leading man Adam (Billy Magnussen), who plays Tecto, is barely hiding how desperately he needs this movie to work; his co-star, the smug, seasoned theater veteran Peter (Richard E. Grant), isn't hiding how over it he is; and their director, Eric (Daniel Brühl), is a German arthouse auteur whose vision is greater than what the limitations of a studio will allow. When Tecto loses its producer, Daniel's ex-girlfriend Anita (Aya Cash) steps in to oversee operations, though it's quickly made clear that she's only there for the much-needed diversity points of having a woman in a position of "power" (few on The Franchise actually have power, of course) behind the scenes.
Like
- The cast is excellent
- The jokes are very funny
Dislike
- Its observations aren't as fresh as they should be
From there, it's a comedy of errors. In one episode, Adam becomes convinced that the human growth hormones he used to transform himself into a hero are turning him into a sheep. In another, an Oscar-winning actress played by Katherine Waterston anxiously waits for her time on set to be over, only to be informed that her role has been expanded. (Again, it's in the interest of "diversity," though Tecto's legion of male fans absolutely hate her.) The crew is told by the franchise's producer Pat (Darren Goldstein), their demanding, frat bro-esque boss (an obvious send-up of Kevin Feige, down to his ever-present baseball cap), that Maximum no longer considers Tecto a tentpole. There's a Veep-ian quality to it all, especially as the ever-demoralized Daniel, Anita, and plucky new third assistant director Dag (Lolly Adefope) scurry to keep the actors and the director happy as the production becomes increasingly plagued by issues. "Do you ever feel like you're killing cinema?" the cheerfully droll Dag asks during a particularly challenging shoot day.
The Franchise's answer to that question is complicated. It's tough to watch this show, all eight episodes of which were provided to critics for review, without acknowledging that it's airing on HBO, which is owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, which also owns the film rights to DC Entertainment. (When The Franchise premieres, it will air concurrently with The Penguin, HBO's TV spin-off for Colin Farrell's character from 2022's The Batman.) Maybe that's why The Franchise clearly feels safer picking at the more family-friendly Marvel movies, though this too feels like a case of partial credit: If you're not willing to go all in on criticizing the system, why bother? The Franchise holds no affection for the genre it's lampooning, despite how deeply those involved with making the show have profited off superhero fare. (The show is composed of a cast and crew that have been involved in Marvel, DC, James Bond, Star Wars, and various Disney projects.) When they mock the industry, they're speaking from experience. And yet their satire sometimes feels tired. At one point, the series takes on Martin Scorsese's "Marvel movies aren't cinema" comment, a plotline that feels both lazy and dated. The popularity of superhero movies hasn't faded, but the novelty of the criticisms lobbed against them has dimmed, and The Franchise's takes just aren't sharp enough to feel fresh.
Still, there's plenty to enjoy about The Franchise. The ensemble is its greatest weapon; every cast member is so adept at delivering the sort of caustic dialogue that Veep and Succession became famous for. As the production's two biggest idiots, a pitch-perfect Magnussen and a delightfully quirky Brühl take on much of the comedic heavy lifting, with an excellent Patel anchoring their many oddities. (Magnussen's Adam ends up with the show's most complete and satisfying arc.) An always-welcome (though underutilized) Adefope breezes through the series, imbuing Dag with all the playfulness of someone who knows she's too good for her job. And Patel and Cash have good chemistry — though while The Franchise presents a few glimpses at their romantic history, that relationship unfortunately falls by the wayside, to the point where you begin to wonder why it was even included. If the characters aren't as finely drawn as they should be, and if their development often gets lost in the effort of pushing Tecto's production along, the very talented actors add enough magic to keep the show highly watchable and frequently laugh-out-loud funny. Criticisms aside, it's just nice to see a series that purports to be comedy that actually has a steady stream of jokes.
While The Franchise thrives on the sort of inside baseball jokes that will appeal to those familiar with the machinations of a film set, you're ultimately left wishing it had a little more bite. Oh, well — that's what the sequel is for.
Premieres: Sunday, Oct. 6 at 10/9c on HBO and Max
Who's in it: Himesh Patel, Lolly Adefope, Aya Cash, Daniel Brühl, Billy Magnussen, Richard E. Grant, Darren Goldstein
Who's behind it: Jon Brown (showrunner), Armando Iannucci, Sam Mendes
For fans of:Veep, Succession, showbiz satire
How many episodes we watched: 8 of 8
