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Netflix’s latest action comedy, “The Union,” has rocketed to the top spot on the streaming giant, but it’s not all good news for the movie’s stars.
The film has rocketed to the top spot on Netflix in the UK since its release on Friday (August 16), beating out 1998’s The Marshalls in the US and 2021’s Kingsman: The Secret Service.
“The Union” stars Mark Wahlberg as Mike, a New Jersey construction worker who enters the world of superspies when his high school sweetheart Roxanne (Halle Berry) enlists him to help with a dangerous intelligence mission for the United States.
The film received mostly negative reviews from audiences, with a few praising the “fun” storyline and the “great chemistry” between Wahlberg, 53, and Berry, 58.
The majority of subscribers consider The Union to be “cliché” and “cheesy.” “Movies should make us feel something, so full marks to Netflix for making The Union so boring and depressing,” one person wrote on X/Twitter.
Another added: “I had low expectations, I mean no expectations at all, but Netflix still let me down with The Union.”
This sentiment is reflected in the film’s low rating on film review site Rotten Tomatoes, where it has an audience score of 28 percent based on over 100 reviews.
The poor ratings were a record low for both Wahlberg and Berry, who had not starred in a film with such low ratings in over a decade.
According to Rotten Tomatoes, of the 10 films Berry has starred in since 2014, “The Union” was rated the lowest by audiences.
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The second lowest was 2017’s “Kings,” which had an audience rating of 31 percent. 2017 wasn’t a good year for Berry, but “Kidnapped” had the third lowest audience rating at 50 percent.
Her highest viewership ratings over the past decade were for 2014’s “X-Men: Days of Future Past,” followed by 2019’s “John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum” and 2022’s “Sydney,” which both received 86% and 85%, respectively.
It’s equally unfortunate for Wahlberg, whose ratings have so far never dipped below 28 percent in the last decade of his film career.
However, the actor has also received low ratings for a number of his films, including 2015’s “Mojave” at 30 percent, 2022’s “Me Time” at 32 percent, 2021’s “Infinite” at 34 percent, and 2017’s “Transformers” sequel, “The Last Knight,” at 43 percent.
Wahlberg’s top films are “Arthur the King,” which is due to be released this year and has a 97 percent chance, “Father Stu,” which is due to be released in 2022 and has a 95 percent chance, and “Uncharted,” which has a 90 percent chance.
But despite low ratings, The Union has shot up to number one on Netflix in the UK, and there’s already talk of a sequel.
In an interview with Variety, Wahlberg, Berry and director Julian Farino said the team decided not to have the characters kiss in order to build anticipation for a sequel, and they even hinted that Netflix had pitched plans to make multiple films out of the series.
During the film’s press tour, Berry was asked about the 2004 critical flop Catwoman, and offered a terse, NSFW defense of critics who called it “the worst” at the time.
The Union is currently streaming on Netflix.
