Netflix's Senna Review - a six hour show that somehow needs more time
Despite having heaps of information to base their series off, Netflix's Senna doesn't use it to do anything truly meaningful.
National hero, global icon, an inspiration to many - Ayrton Senna's unjustifiably short life left a legacy that echoes through the motor racing world 30 years on from his passing during the San Marino Grand Prix.
Many drivers old and new cite Senna as their childhood hero and inspiration for getting into the world of F1, and with good reason. Senna's grit, determination and persistence that he showed throughout his racing career is one to admire and learn from, which is why there have been many tellings of the Brazilian's life.
Ranging from a tribute segment in BBC's Top Gear or a full-fledged hour-long critically acclaimed documentary, it was a god-given task to Netflix as they were now handed six one hour-long episodes to showcase the great Ayrton Senna to a new generation of F1 fans that the streaming platform helped to garner.
The results? A rather shallow story that offers nothing new to those who already knew the Brazilian as well as making everyone around him one-dimensional but well-shot and well-edited racing sequences that stunningly brings classic F1 to life retains the viewer's attention for just long enough until the off-track scenes go back to boring them.
The series covers various parts of Senna's life, from his first encounter with go-karts to climbing the racing ladder and ultimately, making it to F1 and becoming the three-time world champion that we all know today as well as his personal family and love life along with his struggles to balance it with racing.
A rather half-hearted attempt of making it seem that Senna was a special talent and quickly catching the eye of many fans and team bosses, who all don't have distinct character no matter if it's his old Formula Ford bosses or even the legendary Ron Dennis, with the typical cliche of "he can't do it" quickly turning into "he's pushing too hard!" accompanied by Senna himself being more on the nose with "I know I can be champion" and "I am a racing driver" when trying to persuade his parents into letting him compete rather than staying in Brazil to help his family business.
The sacrifice that he makes in choosing a unsafe future in motor racing over a secure life in Brazil where he would be content with a safe job and a happy marriage is barely felt. Senna returning to racing after a brief retirement is portrayed as a triumphant moment rather than letting the actual weight of the decision sit in with the audience or the bittersweet feeling that a critical choice like this should have.
The most that the show does is have a scene where a teary-eyed Senna watches a wedding tape while holding divorce papers.
The series does a good job at showcasing Senna's core characteristics, his determination. From driving all the way from England to Italy just to improve his engine to get an edge over his rivals, to his famous battle with then FIA president Jean-Marie Balestre where he refuses to give in and apologise for his rebellious behaviour.
Along with ambition, as the title of episode 3 suggests, Senna's character is also portrayed as an ambitious, yet realistic person. Whether it be securing a podium in the trickiest conditions at the trickiest track in the world, or managing to get a one night stand with a duchess, there is nothing that will stop Ayrton from getting what he really wants and that is showcased well in the early part of his career up until he inevitably becomes world champion.
Moreover, Senna was a devout Catholic, but you wouldn't know that other than a scene where Prost calls him out in an interview stating that he “thinks that he is God."
Senna's religious life is important as it was one of the many things that gave him strength. More notably, on his final day on Earth, he would read a text from the Bible saying that he was going to receive the greatest gift of all, God himself. A tale that was touched upon in the 2011 documentary.
Senna's playful side is also not shown much as he was known to play pranks with team-mate Gerhard Berger with the two being good friends right until his death. A good contrast from his previous team-mate, Alain Prost.
A fatal flaw that the revered 2011 documentary did was to make Prost out as a villain during their bitter rivalry, the series manages to amend this by properly showing the two make amends after Prost retires. The tension between the two is well managed and well built up when it comes to the boiling point of the infamous Casio chicane accident of 1989 that kicked off the political back and forth between Senna and the FIA.
The series covers Senna's historic home win, with the troubles of a gearbox failure almost robbing the champion off the achievement and making the victory more physically straining. Though, you don't feel it as the show just cuts between different parts of the car in quick succession rather than focusing on the toll that it was taking on Senna's body until after the race. Making the stakes during the race significantly less as Senna could have given out at any time.
Many other key events of Senna's career are covered, even his 1990 accident with Alain Prost up to his death at Imola, with the latter having it's race weekend take up the whole of the final episode.
Though, the absence of what was left out is felt. The entire 1992 and 1993 season was absent, meaning that the heroism of Ayrton saving Erik Comas' life in Belgium was not shown, but told in yet again another expository dialogue in the final episode. His other brilliant drives such as his iconic Monaco pole lap in 1988 and his defense for the win from Nigel Mansell are also not brought up at all, nor was the lap in Donington 93' that showcased who Ayrton Senna was as a driver in a nutshell. All of which are crucial to Senna's character as a human and as a driver.
Another key absence was Senna and Stewart's iconic, yet controversial exchange at the press conference where Senna displayed conviction and authority to get himself out of Sir Jackie's interrogation session. The incident is instead condensed down into a brief post-race interview with a fictional reporter.
Senna's new rivalry with young German hot shot and future record-breaker Michael Schumacher is also absent from the series. The show could have done with including his famous scuffle with him in the paddock that will make Ayrton take the role that he once antagonised with Alain. A veteran driver teaching the young guns a lesson the hard way. It would also have been a peek at what F1 would be left with after the Brazilian's passing.
The attention to Senna's personal life is mostly shifted towards his love life, where he struggles to balance racing and sparing time for his lovers on numerous occasions. Even with his high-profile relationship with Brazilian TV host Xuxa. There is one relationship that Senna had from 1984 to 1988, but the show excluded it for obvious reasons regarding his partner's age.
The Senna family is also one that was underexplored. We barely get to know his siblings or his nephew Bruno, who Ayrton highly regarded. His parents are the ones who get the most focus, though they are very shallow. Ayrton's father is the average stern yet loving father while his mother is a loving and supporting person. But you don't really see them being a pillar to Ayrton's life at all.
All in all, Senna is a good series for those who don't really know much about the Brazilian superstar while those who know about him won't get much out of it. Shallow characters and many crucial aspects of his life being unexplored, it would just mean that you've spent six hours learning about Ayrton Senna. Yet, the man himself still feels very distant as key events that showcase his human traits are missing.
The series does close off with a montage of the real Ayrton Senna and the many highlights of his career, including the ones that were absent from the series. So if you are a new viewer wanting to know more about Senna, just watch those last five minutes or the more insightful documentary that followed 13 years prior.
Rating: 2.75/5
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