The UK Prime Minister (Elba) and US President (Cena) have a public rivalry that risks their countries’ alliance. But when they become targets of a powerful enemy, they’re forced to rely on each other as they go on a wild, multinational run. Allied with Noel, a brilliant MI6 agent (Jonas), they must find a way to thwart a conspiracy that threatens the free world.
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When I saw that Idris Elba and John Cena were teaming up for a new action movie on streaming, I figured I’d check it out at some point. Then, the choice came down to watching Heads of State, or The Woman in the Yard. Since I’d never heard of the latter, I figured I’d check out this team-up, as it seemed like a fun action flick. Would Elba and Cena be a good pairing, or was this just a streaming timekiller?
Idris Elba, who always seemed to be perfect for James Bond (but for some reason was never chosen), takes on the role of a different suave Brit in Heads of State – namely, the Prime Minister. He, as usual, plays the dashing Brit with ease, and once again combines his acting talent with his sharp action timing to make for an entertaining character. John Cena, who’s back in the news recently as WWE’s bad guy (not to mention his upcoming retirement from wrestling), plays action star turned US President (think a pretty well. He’s an interesting foil for the stoic Elba, and the two bicker their way enthusiastically through the film. Not as good a match as, say, Bad Boys (1995), but decent enough.
That’s good, because Heads of State doesn’t really make much use of their bad guy, played by Paddy Considine. He’s there, he’s the mastermind. And that’s it. He doesn’t actually have much screen time, and therefore isn’t really compelling. His actions and underlings take all of his limelight, whereas he’s just kind of… there.
Priyanka Chopra Jonas (Citadel (TV)) and Carla Gugino (Spy Kids) pop up as the main co-stars, with Jonas playing a spy and Gugino as VP. While Jonas is entertaining, she doesn’t really do much to distinguish herself from other female action co-stars, making her a decent part of the movie, but not someone who most people will recognize later.  Carla Gugino, on the other hand, seems to be pretty ill-used, and doesn’t have much of a chance to showcase her acting chops at all. Recent action star Jack Quaid (Novocaine) pops up as a goofy special ops agent with a bloodlust, and Stephen Root pops up briefly in a generic hacker role that could have been fleshed out a lot more.Â
The script is pretty nonsensical, and is pretty much just there to get Elba’s Prime Minister and Cena’s President together and toss them in into one crazy situation after another. There’s some surface intrigue, but most viewers won’t really care much. Other than Elba and Cena (and to a smaller degree, Jonas) are given really any backstory at all, and much of the rest – including the bad guy – are just generic characters. Heads of State is all about the action.
And it does have some decent action. Watching these two get into one crazy situation after another is pretty entertaining, and viewers should get a kick out of the different situations they find themselves in, complete with big explosions and various guns and plenty of explosions. All of it is decent enough, with Quaid’s sequence – and a run in the President’s souped-up limo “the Beast” – being the best of the bunch.
While the script offers up generic villains and plot points, Heads of State still manages to be decent enough for a straight-to-streaming flick. Sure, the plot is thin, and viewers won’t really care about the subplots, but it’s a decent enough action with Elba and Cena that manages to be better than it’s pretty thin script. Sure, there’s a lot wrong with it, and, like other streaming flicks (Canary Black, Jolt, Red Notice), most probably won’t remember much about it in a few years – but it’s entertaining enough to check out once.
