TL;DR – While it is a perfectly okay spy film, all it does is remind me of better films.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene.

Disclosure – I paid for the Netflix service that viewed this film.

The Union Review –

Today, we look at a film that should have everything going for it. Big names to anchor the proceedings, big action scenes, car chases, hopping across the world. Everything that you would want from a Spy Film. However, while watching it, I just kept thinking the whole time that I have seen this done better elsewhere.  

So, to set the scene, Agent Hall (Halle Berry) is working on what should have been a simple extraction of an asset from a hotel Trieste. However, just as they are about to leave, things start falling apart as the team is picked off one by one. Soon, all but Hall are dead, and the hard drive is taken. Meanwhile, in New Jersey, Mike McKenna (Mark Wahlberg) is living his life, working on bridges, being a good friend, and living paycheck to paycheck. When Roxanne Hall, his old high school flame, walks into the same bar. It is time to reconnect, time to get knocked out, and time to get kidnapped by the not-CIA spy agency, The Union. Because they need skills, only Mike has: a nobody with no history.

While I did have many issues with the film, there were still some aspects that did shine through. Firstly, shout out to the stunt team behind the action scenes. They did a fantastic job, especially during the London foot flight. In addition, the characters are generally likable, and while Mark Wahlberg is very much playing to type, he works because this is his bread and butter. Also, a spy agency made up of blue-collar workers getting stuff done is a strong narrative hook to explore.

However, while there is a strong framework here, it has never been explored to its most. Part of that comes from the script, which clearly needed at least one more pass before production to remove the awkward and flat lines that are found throughout. On the awkward front, and acknowledging consenting adults and all that, but I don’t understand why the sleeping with your teacher subplot is in the film, and it is not a one-off moment. This is then compounded by production choices where there are some very noticeable digital insertions of people that are meant to be up high, the film often stops so we can do an advertisement, and for an intelligence agency that is intended to be invisible, they sure do run around in public in all black combat fatigues quite a bit.   

All of that could have been fine. However, the problem is that as I was watching this, The Union kept reminding me of better movies I could be watching. Halle Berry, as an action star, works better when you actually give her things to do, as in John Wick 3. The average person turned into the spy on short notice was done better in Spy [a film I have warmed to since I first reviewed it]. The premise of the film is straight out of Skyfall. [SPOILERS] The whole opening sequence is riffing off the first Mission: Impossible film, right down to the person who was clearly not killed and was not in any way a surprise when they turned up later in the movie. If you are going to try that, don’t make the person one of your big-name actors for the film, and don’t have him shot in the chest when everyone else took one to the head. Also, just on a personal note, if you are going to write about a blue-collar spy agency in the 21^st century, it might be a good idea to get some people who actually know what that is as a lived experience so it does not look like everyone is playing cosplay.

In the end, do we recommend The Union? Look, at best, it is mostly inoffensive, so there is a much worse way to spend two hours. However, it does feel like this is a film that is best put on in the background while you are cleaning the house, and that is a sad premise. If you liked The Union, we would recommend to you Mr. & Mrs. Smith.

By Brian MacNamara: You can follow Brian on Twitter Here, when he’s not chatting about Movies and TV, he’ll be talking about International Relations, or the Solar System.

Have you watched The Union?, let us know what you thought in the comments below, feel free to share this review on any of the social medias and you can follow us Here. Check out all our past reviews and articles Here, and have a happy day. 

Credits – All images were created by the cast, crew, and production companies of The Union
Directed by – Julian Farino
Screenplay by – Joe Barton & David Guggenheim
Story by – Joe Barton
Music by – Rupert Gregson-Williams
Cinematography by – Alan Stewart
Edited by – Pia Di Ciaula
Production/Distribution Companies – Closest to the Hole Productions, Municipal Pictures & Netflix
Starring – Mark Wahlberg, Halle Berry, Mike Colter, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Jessica De Gouw, Alice Lee, Jackie Earle Haley, J. K. Simmons,  Lorraine Bracco, Dana Delany, Patch Darragh, James McMenamin, Juan Carlos Hernandez & Stephen Campbell Moore
Rating – Australia: M;