Rather than offer pure escapism, Heads of State, Amazon’s retro buddy comedy, cleverly amps up the tension in US-UK relations.
Suicide Squad veterans Idris Elba and John Cena are redeployed in this slick gun show from Nobody director Ilya Naishuller. Here, they play the UK prime minister and the US president, two leaders constantly at each other’s throats.
President Derringer, barely six months into his term, resents Prime Minister Clarke for not helping him win office. Meanwhile, Clarke—mired in a six-year approval slump—has already dismissed the president as a Schwarzenegger knockoff.
Plot That Balances Action and Laughs
Things go sideways at a joint press conference intended to announce a NATO-backed energy initiative. To salvage the PR disaster, the pair are packed onto Air Force One. However, everything gets worse when their plane is shot down over Belarus.
As it turns out, NATO’s shiny new energy project was stolen from a nuclear scientist whose father, Viktor Gradov (a rueful Paddy Considine), is out for revenge.
The film opens with a covert MI6 strike led by Priyanka Chopra’s character, Noel, at Spain’s famous Tomatina festival—a mission that ends in chaos. That failed operation soon collides with the president and prime minister’s escape through a Belarusian forest, pursued by Gradov’s lethal henchmen, Sasha and Olga, played with cartoonish menace by Aleksandr Kuznetsov and Katrina Durden.
A Streaming-Only Release That Deserved More
Heads of State is the kind of breezy summer action-comedy that would have killed at the box office in 2013, when Olympus Has Fallen and White House Down packed theaters. Instead, Amazon MGM sent it straight to streaming, likely influenced by the lukewarm reception of G20, their other shoot-em-up about a female president trapped in a summit.
Yet the decision feels shortsighted. John Cena remains one of wrestling’s biggest draws and pops up in everything from Fast and Furious to The Simpsons. Idris Elba, a perennial James Bond candidate, brings A-list clout. Priyanka Chopra is a Bollywood superstar who successfully crossed over into Hollywood.
It’s baffling that Amazon didn’t think this ensemble could fill seats.
Performances and Chemistry That Shine
Elba and Cena have a warm Odd Couple chemistry. Elba toggles between banter and gravitas with ease, while Cena delivers the same goofy-tough energy he perfected in Peacemaker. Chopra gets to kick ass and take hits in a role reminiscent of her Quantico days.
Supporting performances elevate the material even further. Richard Coyle sheds his Coupling image to play the PM’s dour advisor. Sarah Niles excels as the president’s no-nonsense top aide. Stephen Root is always a joy as a slippery hacker double agent. And Jack Quaid, fresh off Novocaine, nearly steals the film in a few short scenes as an overeager CIA watchman.
Smart Writing and Playful Action
Throughout the film, Naishuller stages set pieces that leave plenty of room for pratfalls and deadpan humor. (One highlight: the PM detonating a smoke bomb in his own face.) The script, co-written by Josh Appelbaum, André Nemec, and Harrison Query, shows smart pacing. When characters disappear for long stretches—Chopra vanishes for nearly an hour—they re-enter with a brisk, Edgar Wright-style montage explaining what they were up to.
Meanwhile, bleeding-heart viewers will appreciate the film’s occasional sermon about NATO’s role in maintaining peace—although that, too, ends in an enormous shootout.
Verdict
Heads of State doesn’t reinvent the wheel. But it delivers exactly what it promises: a sharp, well-cast action-comedy that feels like a lost summer blockbuster.
If you’re looking for two hours of escapist fun, it’s worth firing up Prime. Just be prepared to wonder why you didn’t get to see this one on the big screen.
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