A deliriously over-the-top combustible action/comedy mash-up, Heads of State brings an unlikely duo to the forefront. Idris Elba and John Cena play this oddball pairing by leaning into their trademark traits—for Elba, that means British and brooding, whilst Cena gets to play the vapid movie star with muscles and a heart of gold. As a supplemental to their buddy-comedy vibes, international superstar Priyanka Chopra Jonas fills the faux-shoes of Agent Noel, a chameleonic badass who stealthily becomes a most valuable secret weapon. A chaotic, disposable romp that embraces its silliest traits with a surprisingly sweet center, Heads of State is tons of fun.
In a weird kind of way, Heads of State presents a main plot not all that dissimilar to Red, White & Royal Blue. Where that movie introduced a steamy romance between a Royal prince and the son of the President of the United States, Heads of State brings together the President and the British Prime Minister for a potent pairing as conspiracy looms. We start at the chaotic Tomatina Festival in Spain, providing a bright red burst of color and a perfect backdrop for Noel to put on her faux reporter cap. Known as the biggest food fight in the world, the Tomatina sees thousands of people lurching goopy tomatoes at one another, all in the name of good fun. Covert ops go sideways when Agent Noel’s mission to track an elusive villain ends in blood and smashed tomatoes. Her entire team is wiped out—including her partner Coop—leaving her for dead amongst a sea of tomatoes.
Meanwhile, US President William Derringer (Cena), a former action movie star of the fictional Water Cobra franchise, heads off on his first European tour, meant to be a puff piece with British Prime Minister Samuel Gladstone (Elba). Their personalities clash immediately. Sam is all diplomacy and Oxford smugness, whilst Derringer is empty Hollywood Americana. When their Air Force aircraft gets blown out of the sky, the two are forced into the ultimate unlikely bromance that transcends the opposing nature of their respective governmental powers. Along the way, Noel emerges to assist them or, at the bare minimum, to help reach a vital NATO meeting without getting killed in the process.
Naturally, a globe-trotting path of mayhem ensues, taking Derringer and Gladstone on burning planes, speeding train cars, and on heated vehicular pursuits. No stranger to frenetic action violence, Ilya Naishuller (Nobody, Hardcore Henry) upts the ante from what we would expect from a straight-to-streaming pulpy action flick. He neatly choreographs close quarters brawls, and the film’s best sequence in a full car chase set to Motley Crue’s “Kickstart My Heart.” If there was any doubt about the tone, those concerns should be tempered early on. Quite clearly, the screenwriting trio (Josh Appelbaum, Andre Nemec, Harrison Query) has a lot of fun at tossing Derringer and Gladstone into increasingly preposterous scenarios to see what will stick. It doesn’t always work, and the character arcs are about as paper thin as anticipated. However, slow-motion excess and goofy one-liners dial the camp factor up exponentially. The effects are wildly cheesy and over-the-top, yet that complaint feels moot given the atmosphere they are pushing.
One character that we definitely don’t get enough of: emotional patriot and obsessive Derringer fan, Marty, played by Jack Quaid. There can never be enough Jack Quaid, so using him in just a handful of scenes feels like a crime against cinematic humanity. When he suits up, arming himself with massive guns, sunglasses, and lots of grenades, the Beastie Boys hit “Sabotage” underlines his fearlessness. While there are some peaks and valleys in terms of the pacing, Heads of State is mostly much better than even the most optimistic could have guessed. Fueled by a committed turn from Jonas and the zany energy of a buddy duo, Heads of State globe-trots its way to Prime glory.
Salute your new Heads of State when Prime Video’s comedy/action extravaganza shoots onto the platform on Wednesday, July 2nd.
Great review!