La Cage - First episode
La Cage is an ambitious French action series created by Franck Gastambide (Validated) and Sylvain Caron (Balthazar). In this first episode, we dive into the life of Taylor (Melvin Boomer, Conviction (2016)), a young man without many prospects but who does everything he can to become a professional fighter. His dream seems to be slowly fading until a coincidental event suddenly brings him a lot of attention. Will Taylor find a way to reach the top?
It is clear that this series has taken its inspiration from success stories such as Rocky and Kickboxer. Unfortunately, it does not seem to work out completely in the first episode. The main character Taylor himself is not the worst, but lacks that little bit of persuasiveness to really be able to say that we are dealing with a good underdog.
You do see a little bit of his home situation, but we see and know very little about him for the rest. We miss that piece that is necessary to really understand why he wants to make it in the world of UFC. And admittedly, in the ring you do not really see the potential that the series wants you to see. A few nice punches and kicks, but that's about it.
It would have been much better if we saw more and clearer motivation points from Taylor himself as to why he wants to go down this path. This, combined with a slightly slower narrative, especially in the first episode, would have been a serious improvement in terms of the structure of this story. But anyway…
The whole thing looks okay in itself. It certainly has the right look and vibe and the few fight scenes are quite well portrayed. The antagonist Ibrahim (Bosh, Validated) is also quite intimidating as an arrogant and aggressive champion. But because of the not so subtle plot, he is also a bit of an idiot, which makes it too easy for the main character to profit from certain events. So the plot also doesn't always use the most subtle twist. Not completely unbelievable, but the script could have been a bit better here and there.
Well, for a first episode, it is seriously weighing up whether this will be worth it. It is certainly an ambitious series that knows its target audience. But whether this will be an exciting ride, I will seriously leave open. There are some red flags regarding compelling storytelling, but the daring cliffhanger, solid acting and consistent vibe made me a little curious.
It is clear that this series has taken its inspiration from success stories such as Rocky and Kickboxer. Unfortunately, it does not seem to work out completely in the first episode. The main character Taylor himself is not the worst, but lacks that little bit of persuasiveness to really be able to say that we are dealing with a good underdog.
You do see a little bit of his home situation, but we see and know very little about him for the rest. We miss that piece that is necessary to really understand why he wants to make it in the world of UFC. And admittedly, in the ring you do not really see the potential that the series wants you to see. A few nice punches and kicks, but that's about it.
For a first episode, the plot moves along rather quickly. By the end of this episode, Taylor has already made a very bold decision for the rest of the series. The fast pace makes this moment feel too out of nowhere.It is clear that this series has taken its inspiration from success stories such as Rocky and Kickboxer
It would have been much better if we saw more and clearer motivation points from Taylor himself as to why he wants to go down this path. This, combined with a slightly slower narrative, especially in the first episode, would have been a serious improvement in terms of the structure of this story. But anyway…
The whole thing looks okay in itself. It certainly has the right look and vibe and the few fight scenes are quite well portrayed. The antagonist Ibrahim (Bosh, Validated) is also quite intimidating as an arrogant and aggressive champion. But because of the not so subtle plot, he is also a bit of an idiot, which makes it too easy for the main character to profit from certain events. So the plot also doesn't always use the most subtle twist. Not completely unbelievable, but the script could have been a bit better here and there.
Well, for a first episode, it is seriously weighing up whether this will be worth it. It is certainly an ambitious series that knows its target audience. But whether this will be an exciting ride, I will seriously leave open. There are some red flags regarding compelling storytelling, but the daring cliffhanger, solid acting and consistent vibe made me a little curious.
About the writer, Karzal
Mike (1995) has been a member of MySeries since 2016 and is mainly active on the English version of the site. Since 2018, he has been actively translating news articles, columns, reviews and basically everything that ends up on the Dutch site. The original articles, columns and reviews were actually written by others. During the week Mike can be found at IKEA, where he is a national systems specialist and occasionally also in the classroom to teach an English lesson. In addition, Mike logically enjoys watching series and has actually been spoon-fed this from an early age. The genre doesn't matter, there is a place for everything in the otherwise busy life.
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