83 Best Movies to Watch From Spain (Page 6)

Iron Reign isn’t downright terrible. It has the usual stakes of a crime series– tough guys, guns, and cargo that the gang wants to sell, while the cops want to stop– and right off the gate, there are decent gunfight sequences between gangs that are fun to watch. However, even with a great production, and a unique portside location, the characters of Iron Reign start off as the most generic versions of themselves. Manchado rules the port, but we don’t get to know his mindset, what drives him, or anything that would motivate him, whereas Victor seems determined to bring him down only because it’s his real job as a police infiltrator. The betrayals and double-dealing later on start making the drama feel more interesting, but Iron Reign’s introductions falter in making the characters seem interesting.

Genre: Crime, Drama

Actor: Ana Torrent, Chino Darín, Cosimo Fusco, Daniel Grao, Eduard Fernandez, Enric Auquer, Giannina Fruttero, Jaime Lorente, Melina Matthews, Natalia de Molina, Raúl Briones, Roberto Mateos, Salva Reina, Sergi Lopez

Rating: TV-MA

Berlin has everything it needs to be a big hit, from its connections to global sensation Money Heist; to the polished qualities of a Netflix production and the easy, pulpy thrills of a heist led by a cast of attractive people. But early on there's a sense that this spin-off/prequel is just spinning its wheels, stoking the obligatory sexual tension between crew members and getting its characters out of sticky situations far too easily. Berlin is familiar for sure, which means it can still be entertaining in bursts, with well-shot, well-edited heist sequences jolting each episode awake. But it's difficult to find any sort of emotional foothold here, as the title character's actions become even harder to understand.

Genre: Action & Adventure, Crime, Drama

Actor: Begoña Vargas, Joel Sánchez, Julio Peña, Michelle Jenner, Pedro Alonso, Samantha Siqueiros, Tristán Ulloa

Rating: TV-MA

The idea of a fitness instructor suddenly discovering the thrill of selling military armaments is promising in its absurdity, so it's unfortunate that Los Farad doesn't maintain this offbeat sense of humor for too long. It moves relatively quickly into tense criminal activity, but the series isn't able to really capture the magnetic pull that this world of luxury has on protagonist Oskar. Without enough table-setting, the crime family he finds himself becoming a part of can't help but seem ordinary, and the last-minute solutions he finds weaken the urgency of the situations he's in, as cinematic as they appear on screen.

Genre: Crime, Drama

Actor: Adam Jezierski, Amparo Piñero, Fernando Tejero, Igal Naor, Miguel Herran, Nora Navas, Omar Ayuso, Pedro Casablanc, Susana Abaitua

While Romancero's story certainly promises to grow deeper over the course of its six-episode run, the first two episodes that were watched for this review don't provide much reason to get invested. The series clings to the original appeal of binge-able streaming—it practically demands we watch it all in one sitting—but it also forgets to fulfill the episodic demands of television: that every installment communicate something coherent or at least add something to the whole. And while Romancero does have a persistent eeriness about it, even its horror elements don't create enough intrigue or a sense of danger (at least in these first episodes).

The show's decision to throw viewers directly into the action in medias res—no explanations, no initial character establishment—is exciting at first, but quickly saps the narrative of suspense. Similar to the two kids who are shown running from a horde of people in the night in the first episode, Romancero at first doesn't seem like it's heading towards anything in particular. It's a real case of either you're in or you're out, and for this writer, the show's opening moves aren't enough.

Genre: Drama, Horror, Mystery

Actor: Alba Flores, Belén Cuesta, Elena Matić, Guillermo Toledo, Julieta Cardinali, Ricardo Gómez, Sasha Cócola

Rating: TV-MA