Written by Sam Clark
Certificate: 15
Running time: 116 minutes
Director: Illya Niahshuller
''Don't judge a book by it's cover'' is the lesson that I must take away here. When I first saw the trailer for ''Heads of State'', everything about just seemed to set my teeth on edge. The action and green screen seemed perfunctory and I was not at all sure if Elba and Cena would click; in the end, a rather venomous reaction I did not anticipate having. To make matters even more worrying, this comes to us from the director of ''Hardcore Henry'' and ''Nobody'' (Illya Naihshuller), so the fact I was not convinced by the action was concerning when I know this director is capable of greatness. However, much to my surprise, the film ends up working like an absolute treat. ''Heads of State'' is, at the end of the day, yet another buddy cop, team up type of flick, but it does offer 116 minutes of entertaining chemistry and banter between it's two leads and impressive action that I believe was done a disservice by it's trailer.
We start off with the ''La Tomatina'' festival in Spain where MI6 agent Priyanka Chopra Jonas's ''Noel Basset'' is leading a mission against Paddy Considine's Russian arms dealer ''Viktor Gradov''. This mission takes a disastrous turn and she is then presumed dead. John Cena plays US President ''Will Derringer'', a former Hollywood actor and action star turned politician, and Idris Elba is Prime Minister ''Sam Clarke'' - when I saw that, I did chuckle. The two take an Air Force one flight to a NATO summit taking place in Trieste, when all of a sudden they are shot down by ''Gradov'''s mercenaries. They become stranded in Belarus and Poland and must make their way towards the summit and warn NATO of the attack, with plenty of arguing and bickering commencing along the way. A global conspiracy is then uncovered led by ''Gradov'' to destabilize NATO, and it is up to Elba and Cena to make it back and prevent the catastrophe.
Image credit: IMDb / Prime Video / Amazon MGM
It is clear that Illya Naihshuller chose to direct this instead of ''Nobody 2'' which is set to be released later this year, a choice that I confess I find odd as the first was such a surprise and smash hit that you would expect him to return again; I wonder how and why this appealed so much. Having said this however, the director they have chosen to replace him (Timo Tjahjanto) directed Netflix's martial arts bloodbath ''The Night Comes for Us'', which is not only one of my favourite action films of all time, but one of the best but certainly most violent I have ever seen. So not only do I believe that the sequel is in safe hands, but they may have got, respectfully, an even better director for it.
''Heads of State'' is plenty of fun from start to finish, and does not require the highest of IQ's to enjoy, as is the case with many straight to streaming actions films. Sometimes, two actors who you'd never thought you'd ever see together always ends up working the best - though this is rare. As a result of this, I would love to see Cena and Elba in something together after this. What we have here is the classic chalk and cheese team up which reminds us why these films are always fun to watch, which supports the idea of two polar opposites working so well together.
Two characters who couldn't be more different to one another who are forced to work together to survive is always a recipe for insulting quips and playful banter that's always entertaining, and does result in few chuckles here and there. There are a couple of montage sequences which are funny and should not work as well as they do. But the action is certainly where my concentration lay, considering the director's experience. Unfortunately, I don't think Illya Naihshuller is able to flex his action muscles quite as much as he has done before, but is still able to deliver enough nonetheless. Balancing two completely different genres is always a very tricky task, and ''Heads of State'' does it perfectly well.
Image credit: IMDb / Prime Video / Amazon MGM
Despite some very distracting green screen that I knew we'd get from the trailer, ''Heads of State'' does combine comedy with explosions and fisty cuffs, and it's surprising to see how successfully they all go hand in hand. I dare say some of it reminded me of Edgar Wright's aesthetic and style, so job well done on that front. The question is this: can you tell this is from the director of ''Nobody'' or ''Hardcore Henry''? Yes and no. This does have the chaos and carnage of those two galore as well as their humour, but instead feels a little more industrial and artificial which is where my disappointment lies. The previous two felt properly visceral, violent and physical, and this does feel softer in general which is why I'm surprised he has chosen to direct this.
But, I'm glad a little of that style and DNA is still thankfully felt here and not entirely gone. Is he capable of something better or should he have just stayed on for ''Nobody 2''? Perhaps, but there's nothing we can do about it and all directors go through this. I may forget about ''Heads of State'' by next week, but while it was on, it certainly held my concentration and offered two hours of feasible enough entertainment. They can't all be winners.
Available on Prime Video now
