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Geek Vibes Nation
04-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Geek Vibes Nation
‘Heads Of State' Review: A Good Old-Fashioned Buddy Movie Riddled With Cliches, Predictability And Loads Of Fun
'He doesn't know the difference between a press conference and a press junket' wasn't only the best line heard in a room full of critics, but it also sums up perfectly the two central characters in the hilarious buddy movie Heads of State . On the one hand, you have the almost Schwarzenegger knock-off Will Derringer (John Cena), who gained his seat at the Oval Office by starring in B-flicks and taking selfies with the fans. In contrast, you have the stern, serious, and military-trained Prime Minister Sam Clark (Idris Elba). While the difference in political views certainly ensures fireworks on the most critical stage in front of the entire world, it is also highly entertaining on the big screen. Director Ilya Naishuller ( Nobody ) certainly fills this movie with tons of testosterone, machismo and chest-puffing men. Still, it's the women who make the most significant impact at first, especially Priyanka Chopra Jonas ( Citadel ). Her Noel Bisset delivers an enthralling blood-soaked opening scene in the middle of the world-famous Tomatina festival, during which a covert operation on weapons dealer Viktor Gradov (an underused Paddy Considine) goes completely south. Priyanka Chopra Jonas as Noel Bisset in 'Heads of State' courtesy of Prime Video While the script doesn't do Jonas' character any justice, whenever she appears on screen, she shows that it's girls who run the world, as Beyoncé would say. Her slick fighting skills, pitch-perfect timing, and even slightly touching performance carry this film over the finish line, even when this feature starts to test the boundaries of his credibility during the final act. The Looney Tunes-like car chase certainly pushes the limits of the human body and mind, as well as the audience's acceptance of clichés and 'been there, done that' moments. It's a shame that both Jonas and Considine don't receive a lot of screen time, as there's much more to their characters and performances than we currently get to see. It's clear that Naishuller wants to make Elba ( Three Thousand Years of Longing ) and Cena ( Peacemaker ) shine, and both actors grab that chance with both hands and go running with it. The first encounters between Will and Sam might be extremely awkward, as they're mainly filled with two men bickering about who has the best political approach, who's the most experienced, and fish and chips (which slowly becomes a joke that's used too much for its own good). However, once their latest PR stunt, involving Sam boarding Air Force One, ends dramatically when the plane is shot down with the two being the only survivors, that's when this movie speeds up, and the performances become more electric. The special effects might be (very) questionable at times, but we can't say the same about the acting (luckily). Both Cena and Elba inject a lot of humour, charisma and presence into this done-by-the-number screenplay. Each in their own way, though. Sam might seem calm, cool, and even smug, based on what the script suggests, but Elba adds more warmth, humanness, and personality to his character. Sam has little patience for wanna-be's, and every time Will shows a hint of the Hollywood celebrity status he's gained over the years, the two politicians go head-to-head. It's during those moments that we also see that Cena, despite either standing in the wrestling ring or starring in a 'turn-off-your-brains' movie with less substance than this one, can find the sweet spot between a kick-ass performance and emotional acting. Idris Elba as Sam Clark and John Cena as Will Derringer in 'Heads of State' courtesy of Prime Video It's that mix of fighting moves and people skills that hopefully will ensure the leads make it in time for the NATO summit. After being presumed dead, their political allies have taken prominent political positions, but as we all know, sometimes people aren't who they say they are. It's up to the two former powerhouses to save the world, but that's not going to be easy. They not only have to set aside the differences and animosity they might have against each other, but they also have to work together to overcome many explosions, car chases, and bullet rains at the hands of Gradov. The life-threatening journey results in top-notch entertainment and way too many slow-motion action scenes. While this movie sometimes takes it just a little bit too far, the set pieces and the delightful action scenes do deliver the goods for the majority of the runtime. The best example, without a doubt, is the shootout at the Polish safehouse. Not only because of the clever use of the weapons, comedy and the leads, but also because of the scene-stealing Jack Quaid. To the tunes of Sabotage by the Beastie Boys (kudos to the team for the obvious but still effective soundtrack choices), his junior agent Marty Comer causes more mayhem in those few scenes than his Nathan 'Novocaine' Caine did in the entirety of Novocaine . There's no two ways about it. The script of Heads of State comes straight out of an action movie playbook, and the film doesn't take itself too seriously. However, that still doesn't warrant why this feature doesn't at least get a limited release in cinemas, as Naishuller delivers what he promises. Perhaps Prime Video aims to utilise Cena and Elba as the main attraction to attract more subscribers, or it's due to the intense competition on the big screen. We'll never know. However, what we do know is that Heads of State is a good old-fashioned buddy movie that delivers cliches, predictability, but also loads of fun. Heads of State is out now on Prime Video
Times
03-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Times
Heads of State review — stupendously idiotic but eminently watchable
Who knew that the annual summits of intergovernmental forums and transnational military alliances could be so exciting? And yet only months after the popcorn flick G20 gave us the gun-toting US president Viola Davis breaking bones in a ballgown during a Cape Town-set shoot-'em-up, we're now over in Trieste for a Nato summit that serves as a backdrop for an all-action buddy comedy. The twist here is that the two bickering protagonists are the UK and US heads of state — although the better title would have been The Special Relationship (taken, alas, by Peter Morgan's Blair-Bush film from 2010). Idris Elba plays British PM Sam Clarke, a cautious, rule-abiding politician who's suffering a conspicuous Starmer-like slump in the polls and finds himself 'increasingly embattled' in Westminster. John Cena, meanwhile, is President Will Derringer, a crass US populist and Clarke's ostensible nemesis. Derringer is a former Hollywood actor who speaks from the gut and is effectively clueless on global politics. If only there were some sort of violent yet localised crisis that would plunge both men into action and allow them to learn the value of oppositional character traits and the fundamental importance of the Nato alliance while also snapping necks, machinegunning faceless henchmen and leaping from exploding helicopters over downtown Warsaw. Step forward Paddy Considine and a strangulated accent as Russian arms dealer Viktor Gradov (he says 'Qui-yet yir math!!' for 'Shut your mouth'), a lethal psychopath nurturing a grudge against Nato who kicks off the nonstop narrative boom-bang-a-bang by blowing Air Force One out of the sky. • Read more film reviews, guides about what to watch and interviews It is stupendously idiotic yet eminently watchable. Elba is delightfully dyspeptic throughout and takes several potshots at the nonsense around him, noting wryly, 'I like actual cinema.' He shares credible romantic chemistry with Priyanka Chopra Jonas as an MI6 bruiser and former paramour called Noel Bisset — there was possibly a better movie in their story. The Russian film-maker Ilya Naishuller (Nobody) directs from a screenplay that's co-written by Josh Appelbaum and André Nemec (Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol) and pillories 'America First' politics while also hammering pro-Nato messaging. 'If Nato falls, there's no more backstop against despots and dictators,' one of Derringer's panic-stricken aides warns. Meanwhile, back in the exploding helicopter …★★★☆☆12, 116minOn Prime Video Times+ members can enjoy two-for-one cinema tickets at Everyman each Wednesday. Visit to find out more. Which films have you enjoyed at the cinema recently? Let us know in the comments and follow @timesculture to read the latest reviews
Washington Post
02-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Washington Post
In ‘Heads of State,' the special relationship is strictly situational
On its shiny, happy surface, the action comedy 'Heads of State' is so innocuously disposable that it barely merits attention, let alone critique. Anchored by two enormously appealing stars and unfailingly faithful to the strictures of the genre, this summertime programmer — scheduled just in time to divert filmgoers after they've seen 'F1' and before 'Superman' arrives in theaters — is the kind of cheerfully banal, easy lift that feels custom-made for airplane viewing: It might as well come with its own tray table in the open, unlocked position. (Then again, it's available only on Amazon, so … same thing?)
The Guardian
12-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Deep Cover review – Bryce Dallas Howard leads improv actors into London's underground
Producer and screenwriter Colin Trevorrow has co-created this amiable, high-concept action comedy about three hapless improv actors dragooned into going into deep cover to bust a drug ring. It's entertaining, though I think some of the cast understand comedy better and more instinctively than others. It's set in London (though Trevorrow might originally have imagined it set in LA or New York) and the credit is shared with his longtime writing partner Derek Connolly, and also with Ben Ashenden and Alexander Owen, the funny British double act known as the Pin, who also amusingly appear as two squabbling coppers with a Mitchell and Webb energy. The director is the talented Tom Kingsley, who has a substantial TV career and with Will Sharpe got a Bafta nomination in 2012 for the dark comedy Black Pond. Bryce Dallas Howard plays Kat, an American actor whose career is tanking and who now runs an improv workshop in London. Orlando Bloom is Marlon (as in Brando), a smoulderingly hunky method performer and wannabe star reduced to doing TV commercials, and Nick Mohammed is Hugh, a sweet, shy beta-male IT guy who gets bullied in the office and turns to Kat's improv classes as a way of boosting his self-esteem. The lives of all three are turned upside down when hard-faced Met cop Detective Billings, played by Sean Bean, offers these cash-strapped losers £200 each to infiltrate a criminal organisation run by a narcotics kingpin played by Paddy Considine, on the grounds that career officers are too easily recognisable. It's a nice idea (and I wrongly guessed a final twist). Howard gamely gives it her all, though her air of bafflement sometimes didn't look entirely intentional; Bloom as the absurd badass Marlon comes closer to it. But Mohammed, Ashenden and Owen are the ones capable of relaxing more naturally into the comedy mode and delivering funny lines. There are some laughs and it's always likable. Deep Cover is on Prime Video from 12 June.
