Review: Mark Wahlberg’s The Union ‘a bit silly’ but also a load of fun

The Union stars Mark Wahlberg and Halle Berry. Photo / Laura Radford, Netflix
The Union (PG, 107 mins). Streaming on Netflix.
Directed by Julian Farino.
Reviewed by Jen Shieff.
OPINION
It’s not exactly the sort of spy film that will add anything to what it means to be a secret agent, but The Union nevertheless has a lot going for it: big-name actors, exhilarating car chases, lots of running through European alleyways and over rooftops at least as fast as Jason Bourne, plus a spectacular crash through a skylight.
There’s terrific stunt work.
A draw card for more mature audiences is that the agents are middle-aged. Lithe, yes, but still authentically middle-aged, not wrinkle-defying at Tom Cruise’s level.
The film is loosely about locating a device that needs to be in the possession of any person who wants to gain entry to a high-stakes auction of a briefcase of intelligence.
While aiming to be the top bidders, the good guys lose their device and have to magic up another.
It’s all a bit silly but it’s also a load of fun. Sit back, expect nothing and enjoy the ride.
The plot is rather flimsy, but then action movies aren’t usually known for their stories.
Agent Roxanne Hall (Halle Berry), originally a girl from New Jersey who’d broken up 20 years earlier with white boyfriend Mike McKenna (Mark Wahlberg), whose father didn’t approve of her being black, has become a highly trained, extremely skilled London-based operative for an undercover free-world-defending group called The Union, who do CIA/MI5 type of work, without being bound by any laws.
Mike has never left New Jersey and still holds a candle for Roxanne while leading a routine-bound life as a construction worker. Roxanne reappears and kidnaps him, wanting him for the high-stakes mission. His ordinary bloke identity is the perfect cover.
Catapulted into a very fast-moving training programme, Mike grabs our interest as he becomes embroiled in a dangerous mission that spans London, Trieste and Istria, facing threats from Iranian terrorists, North Korean agents, Russian spies and a sleeper within.
More realistic, just, than Mission Impossible, there are a few moments that almost need a “don’t try this at home” warning.
The relationship between Mike and Roxanne isn’t what you’d call steamy, but it works in a Mr and Mrs Smith sort of way and adds humour, the pair of them successfully blending spying with comedy and a smidgen of romance.
Mike, still his loyal, hard-working self while turning himself into what’s been billed as a blue-collar James Bond, is very appealing.
Stephen Campbell Moore is amusing but under-used as a CIA operative and we don’t see enough of Roxanne’s colleagues Nick Faraday (Mike Colter) or Tom Brennan (JK Simmons).
Julian Farino has done a creditable job of directing his first action film, adding to his well-rated line-up of documentaries. The formula works and there will probably be a follow-up.
★★★