Heads of State

Heads of State Movie Review Rating:

Star Cast: John Cena, Idris Elba, Priyanka Chopra, Paddy Considine, Jack Quaid, Carla Gugino.

Director: Ilya Naishuller

What’s Good: Performances of the trio, action sequences, the tongue-in-cheek humor, and the entertainment quotient.

What’s Bad: The script heavily defies logic, the emotional depth in the characters is missing, and the supporting star cast could have been utilized better, the plot also falls prey to predictability nearing the climax.

Loo Break: We would not suggest that since overall the movie has an entertaining and gripping pace.

Watch or Not?: It is definitely a one-time watch if you love the action-comedy genre.

Language: English

Available On: Prime Video

Runtime: 1 hour and 35 minutes

User Rating:

The Heads Of State’s USP lies in its wholesome attempt to keep the entertainment quotient high, be it through the dialogues or the performances of the lead trio star cast. While it is John Cena and Idris Elba’s love-hate camaraderie that turns out to be the show-stealer, Priyanka Chopra’s badassery emerges as the cherry on the top. However, if you are looking for logic or a super riveting storyline to keep you hooked, this one is not for you.

The plot revolves around the President Of The United States, Will Derringer (John Cena) and the Prime Minister Of The United Kingdom, Sam Clarke (Idris Elba) who are at loggerheads with each other despite being in supreme positions of power. While Will is a Hollywood action superstar-turned President and the sweetheart of the people, Clarke, a former SAS-trained commando, thinks that the President is horribly wrong in his job. They clash incessantly with their warring principles and ideologies. However, fate brings them together against a common nemesis, Russian arms dealer Viktor Gradov (Paddy Considine), who wishes to disband NATO and execute both the President and the Prime Minister as a deep-rooted act of vengeance. While Will and Sam have to ensure their safety to foil Gradov’s sinister plans, they find a strong ally in Noel Bisset (Priyanka Chopra), a MI6 agent as well as the former colleague and love interest of Clarke’s.

Heads of State Movie Review: Script Analysis

Director Ilya Naishuller provides a fine balance between an adrenaline-rushing action as well as a wholesome entertainment with Heads Of State. The movie does not waste any time to establish the rivalry between John Cena’s Will Derringer and Idris Elba’s Sam Clarke. This is also showcased with hilarious references to Derringer’s former career as an action hero or Clarke’s overly ambitious motto of changing the world. While Will is impulsive, flashy and full of vanity, Clarke is shrewd, calculative, ambitious, and overly practical. The love-hate camaraderie between the two is excellently fleshed out in the film.

While the same intensity and impact lack from Priyanka Chopra’s Noel Bisset, her badassery and subtle vulnerability under the garb of a no-nonsense baddie is fun to witness. Some of the dialogues are laden with pop culture references, and the love-hate banter between Cena and Elba’s characters amps up the entertainment quotient in this one. However, what goes downhill for Heads Of State is the lack of emotional depth in the characters along with the script, which defies logic in many parts.

Except for the equation between John Cena and Idris Elba’s characters, the film fails to evoke any strong emotions for any of the characters. The chemistry between Priyanka Chopra and Elba is also not powerful enough to make you root for their patch-up. There is no strong back story or a menacing touch to the antagonist played by Paddy Considine. The climax also has the plot falling prey to predictability, wherein you can more or less guess who is pulling off the strings behind the entire conspiracy. Not to forget, the majority of the sub-plots is highly illogical. Incessant assassination attempts at the most highest people in power, the US President and the UK PM running around as fugitives from an arms dealer so easily and loopholes within the NATO that even the highest of the security cannot breach! Well, the discrepancies in the script was certainly visible but the entertainment factor was somewhere compensating for these flaws.

Heads of State Movie Review: Star Performance

John Cena is at his entertaining best, and there is never a dull moment with him on the screen. The majority of the comedic elements land from his character and we were totally seated for Will Derringer in this one. On the other hand, Idris Elba was intense yet had an endearing charm with his character. His roasting Will to his heart’s delight but also having a subtle savior complex, was etched out brilliantly on the screen. Priyanka Chopra though convincing in her part, fails to create a very strong impact because of a lousy writing and development of her character which otherwise had a strong potential to stand out. The supporting star cast consisting of Paddy Considine, Jack Quaid and Carla Gugino do full justice to their parts but their characters have no enough room for a strong development.