‘The Union’ Review: Mark Wahlberg & Halle Berry Star in this Forgettable and Generic Netflix Thriller

The Union is yet another streaming film that you’ll likely forget as soon as it ends. It’s one of those glossy, well-produced thrillers that Netflix churns out regularly. Despite the high production quality and a solid cast, it’s just another average action movie. Instead of focusing solely on the lavish presentation, Netflix would do well to invest the budget of these movies into crafting stronger stories and better writing.

It’s not exactly terrible, but it’s another globe-trotting spy action-comedy about a vigilante crime-fighting team—a formula that’s been done to death by now. In the same vein as last summer’s big action flick Heart of Stone, Netflix seems to be following a worn-out blueprint that desperately needs to be retired. It’s time to move on.

Mark Wahlberg struts into the movie just as you’d expect, playing the tough, working-class guy we all know him as—and, of course, he’s shirtless. Halle Berry steps it up as a badass intelligence agent, rocking an all-leather outfit that gives serious Catwoman vibes. We first meet her leading a mission in some European city, but things go off the rails fast, with her team dropping like flies.

JK Simmons nails it as the gruff leader of a shadowy group called “The Union,” a secret agency so secret that, Roxanne (Berry) says, “half the intelligence community doesn’t even know we exist.” But for a team that’s supposed to stay under the radar, they sure love to go in guns blazing.

Their mission? Good question—it’s as clear as mud. It involves some sort of justice and stealing back government intel on anyone who’s ever so much as glanced at a western-allied country. Honestly, the details are so vague that it’s hard to tell if it’s crucial or just a random Tuesday.

If you turn off your brain and embrace the chaos, you might just make it to the end.

The film’s reliance on the star power of Wahlberg and Berry is glaringly obvious, as it attempts to distract from a plot that feels dubious even by the standards of an over-the-top caper. Conveniently, Wahlberg’s character, Mike, turns out to be Roxanne’s old high-school sweetheart, adding a personal twist to their otherwise chaotic adventure.

The movie never really explains why Mike, of all people, gets pulled into The Union. Instead of hiring someone who actually knows what they’re doing, they go with a total amateur. The reason? Apparently, they “need a nobody” so the bad guys can’t find him—but hey, logic was already out the window by this point.

For most of its 1 hour and 47 minutes, The Union serves up a steady mix of missions, combat, and flirtation, even as the plot twists become increasingly cringe-worthy. The team zips around various London spots, and there’s a car chase in Croatia that seems to go on forever. On the bright side, Berry and Wahlberg have a decent enough chemistry, the stunts are pretty impressive, and the film doesn’t look as cheap, nor is it as boring as one of Netflix’s latest in Lift. If you turn off your brain and embrace the chaos, you might just make it to the end.

The Union is now streaming on Netflix.

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