‘Heads of State’ Review: John Cena, Idris Elba Lead Politically Wild Action-Bromance
Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
What if action star Arnold Schwarzenegger’s dreams of becoming U.S. President came true? Well, John Cena gets to live out the “action star turned President” fantasy in the action-comedy ‘Heads of State‘, while Carla Gugino gets to break the glass ceiling and Hillary Clinton’s dreams for a few seconds. Oh, and Priyanka Chopra plays another version of her character from ‘Citadel‘, and Idris Elba gets to be Britain’s first Black Prime Minister.
So basically, ‘Heads of State‘ is simply a wild action ‘fantasy’ comedy, imaginative only in giving us fictional ground-breaking political characters, while the rest of the plot is just a rehash of all the big-budget action movies we’ve been served in the past. Think Gal Gadot-Alia Bhatt starrer ‘Heart of Stone‘, or Mark Wahlberg and Halle Berry’s ‘The Union‘, or even the Bollywood spinoff of ‘Citadel‘, but with lots of political satire.
The plot is about Russian terrorists (obviously) stealing big tech to target U.S. President Will Derringer (John Cena) and UK PM Sam Clarke (Idris Elba), to destabilize NATO and world peace (how can it be less than world peace?). Priyanka Chopra plays Noel Bisset, a senior MI6 agent who ends up with the task of protecting Clarke and Derringer from the crazy Russians. Chopper crashes, car explosions, train chases, and lots of guns, grenades, and deaths follow. All the lead actors get some really cool action moves through the runtime, although, ironically, John Cena gets the least combat-ready character in the film.
You know within the first few minutes of ‘Heads of State’ that you need to let your brain take a break and enjoy this action mayhem. Which, by the way, begins with a stunningly shot La Tomatina fest in Spain, where Noel Bisset’s team of spies are brutally ambushed by notorious global arms dealer Viktor Gradov (Paddy Considine) and his team. The story then shifts focus to the turbulent political relationship between actor-turned-President Will Derringer and UK PM Sam Clarke, who meet for a summit and end up spending a lot more time together than they’d like when they are nearly killed by the Russian antagonists.
It’s the unlikely, comedic bromance between John Cena’s Will and Idris Elba’s Sam that makes ‘Heads of State’ quite entertaining in parts. Besides, if Donald Trump can be U.S. President twice, so can John Cena’s fictional, brawny Hollywood action star version. As an action fan, my favorite part in the film was Jack Quaid’s cameo as Marty Comer, an American agent who briefly protects Will and Sam from armed terrorists. Quaid, known for playing Hughie in hit show ‘The Boys’, delivers a line – “They say never meet your heroes” – which only fans of the show will recognize as a darkly fun easter egg. In The Boys, Hughie is scarred for life after doing exactly that.
In fact, there are plenty of easter eggs, movie references, and meta humor in ‘Heads of State’, which is an over-the-top action fluff that’s slowed down in the second half by a completely unnecessary romantic sub-plot. One of the funnier moments comes when Carla Gugino’s character tells John Cena she’s always known he’s jealous of her superior acting skills, a line that feels both personal and hilarious, because let’s face it, it’s probably true.
The climax for ‘Heads of States’ is dragged out, the action sequences more chaotic than exciting, and the editors could’ve easily cut out at least ten minutes of this film. If not more. I had more fun watching John Cena’s nonsensical action-comedy ‘Jackpot!’ than this. But again, if you’re looking for a low-stakes, no-brainer flick for the weekend, this isn’t a bad option.
Rating: 2.5 stars on 5. Watch ‘Heads of State’ on Prime Video.
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