Summary
Mark Wahlberg and Halle Berry have brilliant chemistry in this action flick, but it’s not just them that make it work — the entire production pays off, too.
I know what you are thinking. I’m a critic, so I’m going to predictably pan The Union as a trashy popcorn movie as part of Netflix’s routine movie slate that casts A-listers. Well, you’d be wrong. I actually like this action flick, and not just because Mark Wahlberg, Halle Berry, and J.K. Simmons star in it. I like it because it’s awesome and fun.
Berry plays Roxanne, a special agent for an American Intelligence Agency aptly named The Union. In the opening scenes, Berry tracks down an assailant, which leads to most of her team getting killed, including Nick Faraday (played by Mike Colter), a man with whom she had a romantic past.
The Union then pivots. Several groups worldwide are participating in auctions for highly classified intel that names every person who has served in Western-Allied military and intelligence entities. It’s an incredible leak, and The Union has been tasked with stopping the auctions and retrieving the intel. This leads to Roxanne recruiting Mike McKenna (Wahlberg), an ex-partner. She recruits him because he’s a nobody and has no interest in working with the government.
That establishes the chemistry between the two leads in the movie. Berry and Wahlberg do not need to kiss each other’s faces off to create sparks; they do a good job being romantic counterparts, attempting to parse a global conspiracy that risks intelligence agencies worldwide.
I like this match-up. They manage to embrace the spirit of Mr and Mrs Smith without overegging it. The two stars understand they are the poster of The Union. It’s a Netflix pay cheque, but boy, do they have fun with it.
That’s why the action movie works. Its script is aware of the objective: to be entertaining. However, what struck me the most was the effort put into the production and the stunts behind it. This is not low-grade action; there’s a pace representing Mission: Impossible and quick, whippy lines that put a smile on your face.
And no, this isn’t a suggestion that the Halle and Mark duo beats Tom Cruise. The Union does not beat The GOAT; I would never suggest anything so preposterous. But considering this is a Netflix flick, there’s an argument here that this movie could have easily excelled in the cinemas.
Discounting the action, too, the script is oddly clever. When The Union team arrives in London, they bizarrely do not fit into British culture. They suspect construction workers are secret agents, and J.K. Simmons has no idea what brown sauce is on his bacon butty but wants to have it anyway. Reducing American spy agents to a level of dumbness adds a comedic angle that serves an otherwise popcorn script. You can tell it was written by actual writers and not suspiciously by AI (Atlas, anyone?).
But even when you get to the all-important third and final act in The Union, you are not exactly bored. This is usually the demise of action movies that overstretch the explosive scenes, which burns out audience members with low dopamine. Seeing an arguably aging Mark Wahlberg competing alongside a still-young-looking Halle Berry is the buddy-up partnership I was not expecting to work, but it did.
The downside is that it is a throwaway product. Netflix has a habit of leveraging its brand for one-watch releases. The advantage here is that we get cast members who may never have had the chance to work together.
And maybe I’m crazy, but perhaps we need more of this. A Poundland series of Mission: Impossible movies is not something I’d detest. I’m sure the leading stars would see the zeroes on the cheque and sign up.
But let’s not be hasty. Netflix rarely gets it right with their big star movies. So, for now, I’ll calm right down.
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