The big streamers have all been flexing their muscles in recent months with huge stars fronting new movies and shows for them, and Netflix is certainly trying to lead the way on that side of things. It's all part of trying to be the best streaming service in 2024.
Its latest original movie, The Union, will arrive next month, on 16 August, and stars Halle Berry opposite Mark Wahlberg – with both standing as long-since proven Hollywood stars. It looks like a fun action-comedy romp in the first full trailer, which you can see below:
The movie sees Wahlberg as Mike, a well-meaning construction worker from Jersey who reconnects unexpectedly with his high school sweetheart, Roxanne (played by Berry). It doesn't take long for him to discover that she's a member of an international secret service and needs him as a nobody to take on a major operation.
That's a nice and goofy setup for a caper, and it looks like a lot will ride on whether Berry and Wahlberg can summon up some real chemistry between their characters – but the YouTube comments under the trailer are full of one recurring observation.
People are less than impressed by how much of the movie appears to be given away by the trailer – and it's definitely true that you can make a pretty straightforward jab at how things will unfold after watching it.
One person attracted more than 6,000 thumbs-up reactions when they commented: "Thanks for showing the entire movie. Your effort in editing the entire movie into 2:54 minutes is appreciated."
Their sarcasm doesn't go unnoticed here, and another viewer said: "Netflix editor needs a raise for giving this movie a free watch pass for all and shortening it below 3 minutes." Still, if you're on the lookout for a fun movie, you might still want to add The Union to your watchlist when it arrives next month.
It confirms again that a big part of the race to be at the top right now seems to be down to churning out low-quality but high-enjoyment blockbusters. The likes of Atlas and Trigger Warning have already proved to Netflix that shockingly low Rotten Tomatoes scores needn't mean any sort of commercial disaster, after all.
