Content / Criticism
Actually, Mike (Mark Wahlberg) has been quite happy with his life so far. Sure, it’s not particularly exciting. But he has his secure job as a construction worker, he has his friends, he has his mother. What more could he need? Answer: Roxanne (Halle Berry). When his high school flame stands before him again, the sparks fly again. Mike is looking forward to being able to spend time with her again, especially since he hasn’t seen her since then. Less pleasantly, she stuns him on the first evening together. Because the meeting between the two was no coincidence. Rather, she is on behalf of the secret government unit “The Union” looking for a few inconspicuous normal people who she can recruit for the team run by Tom (J.K. Simmons) led organization. She has already received her first order for him…
Action comedy with many stars
Currently, the streaming services seem to be trying to attract customers with action comedies with prominent casts. The first was the Apple TV+ film The Instigatorsin which Matt Damon and Casey Affleck who want to steal the embezzled funds of a corrupt mayor. Then Amazon Prime Video tried its luck with A jackpot to die for!. There are Awkwafina and John Cenawho want to keep the winnings of a highly competitive lottery safe before others kill them. Now Netflix is following suit. With The Union is the next action comedy that features big names, with the figureheads being Mark Wahlberg and Halle Berry, who have to fight their way through a humorous spy thriller.
Wahlberg is of course familiar with action-packed comedies. In recent years, the American has played in Me Time and The Family Plan These were also produced for the major streaming services. So you can have a little déjà vu experience. And these titles by the former Hollywood star have something else in common: you don’t have to have seen them. The scenario of an inexperienced normal person being drawn into a big and dangerous story is of course tried and tested. Many thrillers, but also comedies work with such a situation. The Union The whole thing is varied a little in that the protagonist does not end up in this situation by chance, but is deliberately brought there. But that does not make a significant difference.
Just average
The basic idea of hiring an absolutely average guy because they are less conspicuous has its appeal. But the film doesn’t do anything with it. Instead of playing more with this contrast between the big spy life and the frugal everyday life, it ends up being just the usual scenes. In fact, there is The Union There is practically nothing that you will remember. Whether it is the story, which of course has numerous complications and “surprising” twists, the characters or the humor, the script team has not exactly covered itself in glory. The action comedy is one of those Netflix productions that gives you the feeling that it was randomly put together by an artificial intelligence based on other models.
That doesn’t mean that you can’t have fun with it. The ensemble is in a good mood, there are nice settings, and now and then the humorous sayings are amusing enough. If that’s enough for you, which is often the case with Netflix, you can give this a try. The story doesn’t make much sense, but that’s not something to be annoyed about. However, there is no compelling reason why you should watch this of all things. The Union and none of the other action comedies. If you’re not a fan of Berry or Wahlberg and therefore want more out of the film, you’re not missing out on much. You don’t really have to have seen this.
English review
Mike (Mark Wahlberg) has actually been quite happy with his life so far. Sure, it’s not particularly exciting. But he has his job as a construction worker, he has his friends, he has his mother. What more could he need? Answer: Roxanne (Halle Berry). When his high school flame stands in front of him again, things immediately spark again; Mike is looking forward to being able to spend time with her again, especially since he hasn’t seen her since then. What’s less pleasing is that she drugs him on their first evening together as the meeting between the two was no coincidence. Rather, on behalf of the secret government unit “The Union”, she is looking for a few inconspicuous normal people who she can win over for the organization led by Tom (J.K. Simmons)…
Action comedy full of stars
At the moment, the streaming services seem to be attracting customers primarily with action comedies with prominent casts. It kicked off with the Apple TV+ film The Instigatorsin which Matt Damon and Casey Affleck want to steal the embezzled funds of a corrupt mayor. Afterwards, Amazon Prime Video tried its luck with Jackpot!. There it is Awkwafina and John Cena who want to save the winnings of a highly competitive lottery before others kill them. Now Netflix is also following suit. With The Union comes the next action comedy that doesn’t skimp on the bigger names, with the flagships being Mark Wahlberg and Halle Berry, who have to fight their way through a humorous spy thriller.
Wahlberg is of course familiar with action-packed comedies. In recent years, the American starred in Me Time and The Family Planwhich were also produced for the major streaming services. So you can have a little déjà vu experience. And these titles by the former Hollywood star have something else in common: you don’t have to see them. The scenario in which an inexperienced normal person is drawn into a big and dangerous story is of course tried and tested. Many thrillers, but also comedies, work with such a situation. In The Union the whole thing is varied a little in that the protagonist doesn’t end up in this situation by chance, but is deliberately brought into it. But that doesn’t make a significant difference.
Average
The basic idea of hiring an absolutely average guy because they are more inconspicuous has its appeal. But the film doesn’t do anything with it. Instead of playing more strongly with this contrast between the big espionage life and common everyday life, it boils down to the usual scenes. In fact, there’s almost nothing in The Union that you’ll remember. Whether it’s the story, which of course has numerous twists and turns, the characters or the humor, the script team hasn’t exactly covered themselves in glory. The action comedy is one of those Netflix productions that give you the feeling of being randomly put together by an artificial intelligence.
That doesn’t mean you can’t have fun with it. The ensemble is in a good mood, there are nice settings, and every now and then the humorous sayings are amusing enough. If all that is enough for you, which is often the case with Netflix, you can give this a try. The story doesn’t make a lot of sense, but you don’t have to be mad about it either. However, there is no compelling reason why you should watch The Union and not any of the other action comedies. If you’re not a fan of Berry or Wahlberg and therefore get more out of the film, you won’t miss much. You don’t have to see it here.
Credits
OT: „The Union“
Land / Country: USA
Year: 2024
Director: Julian Farino
Screenplay / Screenplay: Joe Barton, David Guggenheim
Music: Rupert Gregson-Williams
Kamera / Cinematography: Alan Stewart
Cast: Mark Wahlberg, Halle Berry, Mike Colter, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Alice Lee, Jackie Earle Haley, J. K. Simmons
