Netflix’s “The Union” hits a regrettable review low for Wahlberg and Berry

Netflix’s latest action-comedy The Union has claimed the No. 1 spot on the streaming platform in the UK since its release on Friday, August 16. The film has outpaced older titles like 1998’s U.S. Marshals and 2021’s Kingsman: The Secret Service.

The Union stars Mark Wahlberg as Mike, a construction worker from New Jersey, who gets dragged into the world of espionage when his high school sweetheart, Roxanne, played by Halle Berry, recruits him for a high-stakes U.S. intelligence mission.

Despite its top ranking, the film has garnered predominantly negative reviews. While a minor subset of the audience appreciates the “fun” plot and the chemistry between Wahlberg, 53, and Berry, 58, the majority of viewers find The Union to be both “generic” and “cheesy”.

One person commented on X/Twitter, “Movies should make us feel something, so full marks to The Union on Netflix for generating so much boredom and depression.”

Another viewer added, “I mean my expectations were low, as in I had no expectations. But Netflix still managed to disappoint with this The Union movie.”

These sentiments are reflected in the film’s unfavorable rating on the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, where it holds a 28% audience score based on more than 100 reviews.

This low rating marks a significant downturn for both Wahlberg and Berry, neither of whom have starred in a film with such poor audience reception in over a decade. According to Rotten Tomatoes, The Union is the lowest-rated film Berry has been involved with since 2014.

The second-lowest rating for Berry comes from the 2017 film Kings, which holds a 31% audience score. 2017 was not favorable for Berry, as another project from that year, Kidnap, garnered only 50%.

On the brighter side, Berry’s highest-rated films in the last decade include X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014), which earned 86%, followed by John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum (2019) and Sidney (2022), with scores of 86% and 85%, respectively.

It’s a similar story for Wahlberg, who has not seen audience ratings dip as low as 28% in the past ten years. However, he has had his share of low scores. Mojave (2015) has a 30% rating, Me Time (2022) holds 32%, Infinite (2021) has 34%, and the 2017 Transformers sequel, The Last Knight, garnered 43%.

On the higher end, Wahlberg’s recent films fared much better. Arthur the King (2023) achieved a 97% score, Father Stu (2022) earned 95%, and Uncharted (2022) received 90%.

Despite the negative reviews, The Union has soared to the top of Netflix UK’s charts, prompting discussions of a sequel. In an interview with Variety, Wahlberg, Berry, and director Julian Farino indicated that the creative team chose not to have the characters kiss in this film, aiming to build anticipation for future installments. The team even hinted that Netflix might be considering a multi-movie plan for the franchise.

During the press tour for the film, Halle Berry addressed her 2004 critical flop Catwoman, offering a brief, explicit rebuttal to critics who had harshly dismissed the film at the time.

The Union is available for streaming on Netflix now.

Source: Variety, Rotten Tomatoes