When the trailer for Prime Video’s action-comedy Heads of State first dropped, with John Cena and Idris Elba playing leaders of the free world, I said all I needed was for it to be stupid dumb fun. Director Ilya Naishuller understood the assignment. The filmmaker behind action flicks Nobody and Hardcore Henry has made politics fun again, at least for a couple of hours, giving these Suicide Squad buds the freedom to run ‘n gun and crack jokes at our celebrity-obsessed political climate, all while enduring the greatest security breach two countries have ever seen.
The story is pure ’90s-style action fodder, penned by Mission: Impossible-Ghost Protocol writers Josh Appelbaum and André Nemec. Cena plays United States President Will Derringer, and he’s clearly mimicking Governator Arnold Schwarzenegger, fitting of the era this film owes so much to. Derringer is a former movie star who used his popularity to become POTUS, and UK Prime Minister Sam Clarke, played by Elba, can’t be bothered with having such a dolt on the world stage. But dolt or not, Will is a pretty decent guy and a family man who the American people love. Sam, on the other hand, is a bachelor struggling to keep his approval numbers up. He could use some of Derringer’s popularity to rub off on him.
Priyanka Chopra Jonas, a Prime Video regular at this point, actually kicks things off as Noel Bisset, an MI6 agent whose team gets wiped out on a botched mission to capture an arms dealer played by Paddy Considine. She takes gunfire and is presumed dead, which devastates Sam because they used to share a romantic past. When the two world leaders are attacked aboard Air Force One in a really cool aerial action sequence, it’s Noel who ends up coming to their rescue. But not before the two world leaders touch the ground and get into a fight with a bunch of locals who don’t care about their political power. Sam, a former soldier, can hold his own in a scrap, but Will is an action hero, not a real fighter, and a lot of the humor comes from him trying to hold his own.
Heads of State doesn’t even try to take itself seriously, and that’s the beauty of it. Cena and Elba take jabs at one another throughout, moving from one ridiculously improbable scenario after another. Cena gets most of the gags while Elba plays the self-serious straight man, but both get their moments to shine in teh comedy spotlight. In one awesomely dumb sequence, Jack Quaid turns up as an agent guarding their safehouse, and while he looks like a dweeb he turns out to be this epic badass who practically fights off an entire armed squad of mercenaries by himself. It’s too small of a role for Quaid, if anything, and makes me want to see more of his character in the inevitable sequel. Chopra Jonas, no stranger to action flicks herself, holds up her end of the bargain just as well, On the other hand, Considine is sorely underused as the baddie, and what the Hell is Sharlto Copley doing in this? He’s in the movie for about two minutes and never seen again. Did he owe someone a favor?
Heads of State is a silly, breezy watch on Prime Video, but I was fortunate to catch it on the big screen. It made me sad that movies like this don’t get a theatrical release anymore, but maybe Amazon MGM will see the value in it for next time? Drop a sequel during election year and it could be a campaign sweep at the box office.
Prime Video streams Heads of State beginning on July 2nd.
