Written by: Josh Appelbaum, André Nemec, Harrison Query
Starring: Idris Elba, John Cena, Priyanka Chopra, Carla Gugino, Jack Quaid
Rating: [2.5/5]
Action comedies have tried pretty much every combination of pairings that make sense for the genre. Colleagues, brothers, lovers, and even enemies have all paired together to deliver within this genre where tension arises, but they manage to overcome everything for the good of the plot. Never did I think of the possibility of one centering on two political leaders having this dynamic as explored in Heads of State. An action film that will have absolutely no staying power but at least attempts to drive home some entertainment.
Meeting for a state visit, UK Prime Minister Sam Clarke (Idris Elba) and United States President Will Derringer (John Cena) connect for the first time, and they do not strike the best first impression on each other. Urged by their staff to travel on Air Force One to present a united front, while on board, their plane gets shot down, leaving them stranded in Belarus. With minimal help around them, they must rely on each other and their fighting skills to discern the problems afoot.
Heads of State operates as a fantasy in more than one way, with the prevailing one being the fact that we have a United States president who is not of a geriatric age. Imagining a 70-year-old president going through the trials and tribulations may have made the film a bit more comedic and better reflected our actual reality. Of course, this film would prefer for the leader of the free world to actually have the ability to at least do a light sprint, thus casting John Cena in the role as these two important political figures bond in a treacherous circumstance. One where they do not know who they can trust from their staff and must rely on each other to get themselves out of this mess.
As one can imagine, when there’s a conspiracy involved aimed at killing a United States president and a UK prime minister, someone with major sway and high ambitions must have some involvement. Clarke and Derringer simply have to survive long enough to find this perpetrator and put this whole situation to an end. A simple premise and one that provides the baseline entertainment one should expect from a film that starts John Cena and Idris Elba going straight to Amazon Prime streaming. Having these elements to this story does not necessarily raise my confidence to the quality we will behold here, but it’s just fine.
By far the defining element of this film lies in the chemistry between Clarke and Derringer as they must get past their general dislike for each other to survive and save the world from whatever remains afoot. The initial briskness between them stems from Clarke not necessarily respecting the manner in which Derringer became president. As a former movie star, Derringer gives off the appearance of operating as a celebrity president that does not take his office nearly as seriously as Clarke does. This challenging, to say the least, endeavor allows them to bond in ways typical diplomacy would not present the opportunity for. These heads of state know they have a target on their back because of the work they do, but them needing to rely on each other and not their security detail to survive provides a bonding opportunity like no other.
When getting to the action, this film delivers standard fare that makes us thankful these heads of state have much better combat experience and ability than one would typically have in this role. We see plenty of hand-to-hand combat, gun shootouts, and many explosives happening all around them. Nothing that necessarily stands out, but its mix with comedy allows it to provide some entertainment. When you have a scene where someone attempts to shoot an RPG at Derringer’s armored vehicle and he tries to raise his window as quickly as possible to avoid death, it summarizes the blend of action and comedy this film wants to display.
As basic as action comedies come, Heads of State gives us a story we’ve seen before but done so with a combination of world leaders that carry much importance in our world politics. We receive expected performances by Elba and Cena, as they deliver exactly what one would expect from them within the context of this story. Everything about this film is just fine but easily very forgettable.
Films with Josh 
