Directed By LLya Naishuller
Starring – Idris Elba, John Cena, Priyanka Chopra Jonas
The Plot – When the UK Prime Minister (Elba) and US President (Cena) become the targets of a foreign adversary, they’re forced to rely on one another to thwart a global conspiracy.
Rated PG-13 for sequences of strong violence/action, adult language and some smoking.
Heads of State – Official Trailer | Prime Video
POSITIVES
The latest edition of ‘Pair two random Stars together for an Action Movie on Streaming’ legitimately produces positively entertaining results, beginning with the naturalistic chemistry of its leads, which helps to enhance the appeal of some inconsistent humor within the screenplay. Elba and Cena are at their absolute most charismatic, playing their respective leaders with a nice blend of confrontational absurdity and bravado that not only lends itself effortlessly to Naishuller’s exaggeratedly expressive direction, but also clues the audience into their apparent political differences, which leads to them clashing heads hilariously throughout the extent of their cross-country expedition. Elba’s Sam Clarke is a cautiously reserved politician who errors on the serious side of a familiarly proper English bloke, in turn contrasting seamlessly with Cena’s grandiosely elaborate persona to produce a developing bromance between them that is played up antagonistically chummy in the film’s favor, with impeccable timing and consistent energy in delivery between them that seems to convey the endless fun that both of them had towards making the flick. Priyanka Chopra Jonas also provides something compellingly endearing for the ladies in the audience, with extreme resiliency in physicality that matches her devastating duo blow for blow. As to where a movie like this would typically render her as a damsel in distress of sorts, Jonas more than holds her own both physically, with intensely battle tested sequences, and humorously, with a pantry of puns, all in half of the time, producing a portrayal for one of my favorite female characters of the year, and one that I hope will turn her into an action juggernaut that she proves here in spades. There is also an awesome cameo here from one of Hollywood’s fastest rising stars, and between my favorite scene of the movie involving him, and a mid-credits scene that proves the production couldn’t get enough, the actor dazzles in a brief-but-memorable role, cementing another notch under his belt for memorably complex characters that he always feels perfect for. The impact that each of the ensemble attain definitely stands as a result of cherishingly cheesy and over-the-top atmospheres that Naishuller channels in previous films like “Hardcore Henry” or “Nobody”, particularly where the director revels in the uncontrolled chaos of an evolving dynamic or high stakes action set piece, that subscribes to the attainable fun of the circumstances rather than the authentic legitimacy of gravitational influence. Because of such, the action in the film is full of gut-wrenching intensity and connective registry, even if it isn’t filmed ambitiously exceptionally, and when combining this with some artistically flourishing flashback sequences involving snapshot editing in the detailing of a character’s wild afternoon, or another evading death, Naishuller provides captivating emphasis for why he’s such a refreshing voice among today’s action-heavy directors. The larger and more elaborate set pieces are also enhanced by uniquely silly song choices among pop-heavy favorites that emotionally amp up everything that’s playing out with a tonally compromising element that serves as the obvious intention, complimenting the slow motion sequencing of the scene in ways that attain an underlining fun factor to moments enveloped in character futility. While this is certainly nothing original with action films released over the last decade, the intention corresponds cohesively with how Elba and Cena continuously play to the camera while connecting affectionately to the audience, further appraising personality and nostalgic nourishment to the proceedings without totally annihilating the stakes of a conflict enveloped in a sort of whodunnit? narrative for the plot. The film also never runs out of energy or charm alongside its 105 minute runtime, with storytelling progression to the movie’s pacing that effectively attains urgency without feeling rushed or underdeveloped to either the characters or their evolving conflicts. Considering I recently watched Netflix’s “The Old Guard 2”, where the movie attempted to combine as many subplots and character dynamics for a tediously choppy surge in storytelling, the simplistic stance of the script to never be overwhelmed with excessive baggage is quite refreshing to its prominence, and considering so many of these foundation building scenes live and thrive on the magnetic personality of its aforementioned charming ensemble, it proves that the movie is here for a good time, not a long time, cementing another successful entertaining escape for Amazon Prime that other streaming studios should study.
NEGATIVES
However, not everything is copacetic with “Heads of State”, as the screenplay occasionally plunges from some of its own preconceived peril, particularly with a flat dimensionless antagonist and predictable plot that has it failing to evade some of the predecessors that it borrows so apparently from. Some might only see this on a surface level, but I found the movie very derivative of the 1996 hijinks comedy, “My Fellow Americans”, in which two political opponents in Jack Lemmon and James Gardner are set-up by one of their own in an elaborate plot to kill them both. Aside from the plot of this one feeling identical to that outline, the motions of the storytelling also borrow heavily from it and other movies, and it makes it feel not only predictably telegraphed with where the story will head, but also in a third act twist that I smelled coming from miles away, if even just because of who the production cast in the role, and it makes it feel like frustratingly familiar, even if this is the first and possibly only time that I will ever watch it. As for the other criminal mastermind that the movie focuses its attention towards, Paddy Considine is wasted in a thankless portrayal that is given merely a single solitary sentence of exposition fleshing out him or his character’s motivations for such a dangerously devastating objective, and while Elba and Cena are obviously the proverbial oven that cooks the meat of the engagement, the conflict feels so underwhelmingly one-sided because of the lack of dimensions given to what should be a memorably twisted and coldly calculative character, and while it didn’t take away from the fun I had from the experience, it’s definitely noticeable that the movie resists the urge to invest in this character in ways that could further elevate the established conflict. Beyond all of this, the film’s third act becomes a bit preachy within some unnecessary social commentary that it distributes about as subtly as a Sherman tank driving through Finally, the lone continued similarity that tie all of these movies together is present in the production of this film, manufacturing these artificially hollow greenscreen backdrops meant to cheapen its budget, but instead enacting laughably bad imagery that stands out like a sore thumb. While I’m not as hard on the intention of this movie to reach for artificiality as much as I am a serious action movie with little to no personality, being that it’s a zany hijinks comedy, it nevertheless crafts a distracting emphasis to sequences garnering the biggest attentive focus from the audience, and therefore doesn’t flourish the kind of gravitational influence that earns my undivided attention or believability.
OVERALL
“Heads of State” might feel like another shamelessly shallow streaming opportunity to surmise two charismatic giants to an entirely redundant plot, a sentiment that it doesn’t fully escape, however the irresistible personality from Idris Elba and John Cena, and LLya Naishuller’s self-aware and highly expressive direction, play particularly well to its appealing strengths, making it a Summer surprise worth saluting, especially in the comforts and confines of watching it in your own home
My Grade: 6.8 or C+