by Charles Kirkland, Jr.
The President of the United States and the Prime Minister of England must put their differences aside and work together to save the world in Heads of State.
Will Derringer (John Cena) is the president of the United States. He is a movie star with a popular action franchise and the highest approval ratings ever. Sam Clarke (Idris Elba) is the Prime Minister of England. He is a square-jawed, hard-nosed pessimist who worked his way up the ranks to the role. Derringer and Clarke can’t stand one another. Following a disastrous press conference, the advisors to the two hotheads suggest they ride together on Air Force One to the NATO Summit as a sign of unity. They reluctantly agree. On the way to the summit, the plane is attacked and brought down by a known terrorist who has escaped apprehension, Viktor Gradov (Paddy Considine). The world believes that they are dead, but Derringer and Clarke must find a way to work together and get to the Summit to save what is left of the world.
The screenplay for Heads of State was written by Josh Appelbaum and André Nemec, with some help from Harrison Query, who wrote the story. The movie stars Elba, Cena, and Considine along with Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Carla Gugino, Stephen Root, Sarah Niles, Richard Coyle, and Jack Quaid. The film is directed by Ilya Naishuller (Nobody).
Applebaum and Nemec have worked together as writers on several projects before this movie, including Mission: Impossible- Ghost Protocol, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and TMNT: Out of the Shadows. They also serve as executive producers of the film, and their history of producing together is even more extensive. Being a veteran team in the industry, it is easy to see how comfortable and cohesive they can make a movie, even when you are trolling the frenemies-save-the-world trope.
Don’t get me wrong. Yes, you have seen this story, but before you say Tango and Cash and move on, give this one a try. The movie is very meta. Dillinger is the man the world expected Arnold Schwarzenegger to be if he ever ran for president. (He is not eligible. Don’t get any ideas.) That John Cena boyish charm permeates his performance and makes you wonder how an unqualified celebrity could be the Commander-In-Chief. Elba is the perfect stoic and grounded foil to Cena, saying all the things that need to be said and checking Dillinger at every turn.
Priyanka Chopra Jonas is becoming quite the action star. With her work in this film, along with what she has done in Citadel (another Applebaum/Nemec creation on Prime Video), Jonas is much more than a pretty face. She fights. She shoots. She stabs. She is a force to reckon with, even with men twice her siz,e with a battery twice the size of the Energizer bunny.
A sneaky scene-stealer is Jack Quaid (Novocaine) as Agent Marty Comer. His quirky and irreverent violent tendencies are fun to watch. It would be fun to see a spinoff prequel with him.
Naishuller puts his fingerprint on the film. He has a way of shooting action scenes that allows the hero to get damaged. When Cena and Elba engage, they don’t come out of the fight unscathed as some other directors would be tempted to do. Did I mention Chopra Jonas? He also employs his fifteen-second summary shot, where he speeds up the film to show a set of events recapping the life of a person to answer the question “where have you been?”. It’s a super cool shot he used in Nobody and uses again a couple of times through this film.
Rated PG-13 for sequences of strong violence/action, language, and some smoking, Heads of State is a smart, silly, and cheeky action movie that proves execution is king in movies. It is a surprisingly fun movie.
Grade: B+