There’s a moment in Heads of State when the President of the United States tries to use choreographed fight moves from his action movie past during a real brawl—and it doesn’t go well. That pretty much captures the delightful absurdity of this buddy-action comedy, which leans into its ridiculousness with glee and never looks back. With John Cena and Idris Elba at the helm, the film knows exactly what it is: a loud, goofy, turbo-charged political romp that substitutes depth for dynamite and comes out better for it.
The plot? Something about a political coup, global chaos, and a pair of leaders who are more brawn than brains. Newly elected U.S. President Will Derringer (Cena), a former action star turned idealistic family man, teams up—begrudgingly—with long-suffering U.K. Prime Minister Sam Clarke (Elba), whose poll numbers are plummeting almost as fast as Air Force One in the film’s early set piece. After a mission gone wrong and a plane shot out of the sky, they end up stranded in the wilderness, hunted, insulted, and very much out of their depth.
What follows is a joyously chaotic adventure of escalating action sequences, smart-aleck banter, and wildly implausible survival stunts. Clarke has SAS training and a permanent scowl; Derringer has boundless enthusiasm and a distressing amount of misplaced confidence. The chemistry between Elba’s deadpan weariness and Cena’s golden-retriever eagerness works surprisingly well, like watching a bulldozer try to reason with a brick wall. Their dynamic plays out like a politically charged Planes, Trains and Automobiles with added explosions.
Director Ilya Naishuller (Nobody, Hardcore Henry) keeps the energy dialed up to eleven. Whether it’s a shootout in a Belarusian bunker, a chase through snow-covered terrain, or the finale’s bonkers car sequence that defies gravity, physics, and logic, the action never lags. He manages to stack the film’s silliness one beat at a time, building toward a climax that should be too much but somehow lands perfectly within the film’s over-the-top tone.
There’s strong backup too: Priyanka Chopra Jonas brings bite and intrigue as MI6 agent Noel Bisset; Jack Quaid delivers comic chaos in a safe house showdown; and Carla Gugino makes the most of her screen time as a vice president with some chilling lines that cut sharper than any of the film’s weapons.
No, it doesn’t make a lot of sense, and yes, the character arcs are thinner than a wafer, but none of that matters when the ride is this much fun. Heads of State is popcorn cinema at its most unashamed—a fizzy cocktail of absurdity, action, and buddy-comedy banter that hits the sweet spot for anyone looking to disengage from reality and enjoy the wild ride. Catch in now on Amazon Prime.