Now is a great time to be an action cinema fan. In 2025 alone, some highlights include Batman Ninja vs. Yakuza League, 40 Acres, The Accountant2, Freaky Tales, One Spoon of Chocolate, and Predator: Killer of Killers. These are stories, in live action and animation, infused with science fiction, fantasy, horror, and/or thriller aspects, are just a few of the titles offered up to audiences amid a flurry of others. Joining the slate is another hybrid, the action-comedy-thriller Heads of State directed by Ilya Naishuller (Hardcore Henry; Nobody) and starring former The Suicide Squad (2021) co-stars John Cena and Idris Elba, plus Priyanka Chopra Jonas (Quantico), Jack Quaid (Novocaine), and Paddy Considine (Hot Fuzz), among others. Constructed within a trusty ‘90s-style road trip action comedy and coming to Prime Video in time for July 4th, 2025, Heads of State not only delivers satisfying action with a frequent playful wink, the narrative possesses a sharp political edge undercurrent, giving the good time an unexpectedly potent depth.
Priyanka Chopra Jonas as Noel Bisset in HEADS OF STATE. Photo Credit: Bruno Calvo/Prime. © Amazon Content Services LLC.
Action film star and newly-elected U.S. President William Derringer (Cena) heads to London to meet established Prime Minister Sam Clarke (Elba) for the first time, yet each already has strong opinions of the other. Derringer thinks that Clarke tried to sabotage his campaign by aiding his presidential opponent, while Clarke thinks Derringer is an empty shirt more interested in popularity than serving the people. After a joint press conference goes wrong, the duo attempts to improve things by flying together to an upcoming NATO conference on Air Force One; except, somehow, security gets upended and the plane goes down. Barely surviving, the two must figure out a way to navigate their way through deadly terrain with an unknown enemy on their tail and present massive global implications — all while trying not to kill each other in the process.
L-R: Director Ilya Naishuller with actors John Cena and Idris Elba on the set of HEADS OF STATE. Photo Credit: Chiabella James/Prime. © 2023 Amazon Content Services LLC.
Written by Josh Appelbaum (Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol), André Nemec (Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol), and Harrison Query, based on a story by Query, one would expect Heads of State to be a fluff affair, a straight-to-streaming adventure that audiences can take or leave as they head into the July 4th holiday. If all you’re looking for is entertainment, you’re going to get it with a tone-setting opening teased in the final trailer (which I don’t recommend watching ahead of your first watch) that showcases Chopra Jonas’s formidable action chops while also establishing the tone and stakes of the film in a brightly-lit set piece akin to something out of 007 and illustrating the deadliness of the villain of the story. This opening includes the usual MI6/CIA refinements audiences expect from an action film and the efficiency of the sequence both dazzles in the sense of articulating how good Chopra Jonas’s Agent Noel Bisset is as a field agent (a credit to Supervising Stunt Coordinator Lee Morrison (No Time to Die; Dune: Part Two) and their stunt team, as well as cinematographer Ben Davis (Guardians of the Galaxy; The Banshees of Inisherin) for the coordination to capture the action) and the brutality we should expect from Considine’s arms dealer Viktor Gradov. It’s funny and playful while also deadly and deeply serious, something the whole of Heads of State balances throughout on a razor’s edge.
L-R: John Cena as Will Derringer and Idris Elba as Sam Clarke in HEADS OF STATE. Photo Credit: Chiabella James/Prime. © 2023 Amazon Content Services LLC.
The performances are positively key in making the film as effective as it is in both thrills and mystery. Cena and Elba have extraordinary chemistry, something that fans of The Suicide Squad likely noted very quickly. Though the characters of Derringer and Clarke are very different from their comic book counterparts, the ease with which Cena and Elba play off each other is beautiful primarily because neither approach their performances with ego. Both are placed in situations where they may find themselves given a reason wherein their “tough guy” television and cinema personas are challenged and each do it with such natural ease. As teased in the initial trailer, the pair find themselves having to fend off a couple of people when the two are caught trying to hotwire and car and it all goes downhill fast. The narrative, by this point, has shown the audience Clarke exercising and Derringer at work in at least one of his globally-received movies, so there’s a quickly established sense that they are athletic, but there’s a big difference between what Clarke calls “Gym Strong” and “Strong Strong,” and this fight helps prove this point. In the days of Stallone (Cobra) and Schwarzenegger (Commando), while both actors often played with their masculine personas, having found their own characters in such a situation, the opponents would likely be dispatched quickly. Instead, Clarke and Derringer battle it out with less than effective results, more of the damage to their opponents done because absolutely no one is in-sync with each other and chaos reigns supreme. It’s an absolutely hilarious sequence, total hijinks which evokes some of the situational comedy of action/comedy/thriller True Lies (1994), and much of this type of comedy is infused throughout the film in order to balance the expectation of big screen stunt work against who these characters are and their very real limitations. Clarke isn’t Brixton (Hobbs and Shaw) or Krall (Star Trek Beyond) and Derringer isn’t Jakob Toretto (F9) or John Triton (The Marine) and, beautifully, Naishuller, Elba, and Cena never try to make these characters those people which creates opportunities for against-type reactions and responses that feel fresh and are, therefore, incredibly fun.
L-R: John Cena as Will Derringer and Idris Elba as Sam Clarke in HEADS OF STATE. Photo Credit: Calvo Bruno. Photo courtesy of Amazon MGM Studios.
While the focus may be on these two, for their parts, Chopra Jonas, Quaid, and Considine are fantastic in their portions. Chopra Jones has demonstrated her ability numerous times in a variety of genres and she kills (pun intended) as the MI6 agent with a penchant for puns. Quaid’s portion is less significant than Chopra Jones’s, but Quaid makes an absolute meal of it all, demonstrating that his Nate Caine who haphazardly survived in Novocaine can hold his own, and stealing the scene right out from under Elba and Cena in the process. This is not a slight against the co-stars as both seem more than willing to take a hit if it makes their scene partners look good. Considine doesn’t get much here in terms of depth, making his villain a touch one-note, yet it works within the confines of the narrative and the revelations within. Quick shout out to the mostly silent performances from Aleksandr Kuznetsov (Why Don’t You Just Die!) and Katrina Durden (Back in Action) as Sasha the Killer and Olga the Killer, respectively, who portray the kinds of relentless yet emotive murderers that make one actually worry for the safety of a story’s protagonists.
Jack Quaid as Marty Comer in HEADS OF STATE. Photo Credit: Amazon MGM Studios. © Amazon Content Services LLC.
What’s particularly impressive, though, is the absolute bite Heads of State possesses. The plot is a simple one — two individuals with opposing perspectives are faced with a difficult task they can only survive together. We’ve seen this in a variety of ways and often with a soft tooth approach to anything related to politics. For reference, films that involve political figures tend to focus more on them being bad ass and reaffirming a country’s public perception than actually saying anything of interest. Here, however, from the narrative arc to the costuming, Heads of State is positively potent. For the character of Derringer, a name made for action films if there ever was one, Cena’s dressed in an appropriate tailored suit and red tie. On its face, one might just think that red is a good color and helps bring out the color in his U.S. flag pin, but, when one considers that the U.S. has elected two former actors (Ronald Regan and Donald Trump) to the presidency, as well as Schwarzenegger and Jesse “The Body” Ventura to state governors’ houses, one can draw a fairly clear line between one political ideology and the character. Cena doesn’t play Derringer as a right-winger, however, possessing more of a globalist view, seeking to tap into the goodness of all people (an aspect that frequently grates against the more rigid and politically established Clarke). To demonstrate this, in a moment of frustration, Clarke laments their situation and it’s Derringer who reminds him of the losses their colleagues have suffered, so, perhaps, some perspective would be key. However, as the plot unfolds and more information is shared about the individuals surrounding both Derringer and Clarke, a picture forms of a worldview that’s more America First, gladly willing to let the world burn if it means they survive the longest. Ergo, Heads of State makes it quite clear that a specific political ideology is not only detrimental to one country, but the entire globe. Of course, this film being an action comedy first, it keeps things light by ensuring that American Exceptionalism and British Colonialism need to lead the way to get there, which softens the realization baked into the narrative. Additionally, and not for nothing, the screenwriters make it quite clear who the bad guys are, who the good guys are, and that both types exist in shades of grey of their own making. It’s rare to find a piece of fiction willing to be so damned provocative without sacrificing the entertainment value.
L-R: Priyanka Chopra Jonas as Noel Bisset, John Cena as Will Derringer, and Idris Elba as Sam Clarke in HEADS OF STATE. Photo Credit: Chiabella James/Prime. © 2023 Amazon Content Services LLC.
It’s an absolute shame that Heads of State isn’t getting a theatrical release. The action on display is top-notch with several satisfying set pieces; the narrative is more than well-structured, it takes into account what audiences already know of action films and plays with those expectations; and the cast is more than game for the silliness their respective characters experience. Additionally, there’s more going on under the hood which makes for a compelling experience, including aspects that observant audiences may figure out early but won’t predict how it will all conclude. Heads of State is the kind of action comedy thriller hybrid that you can enjoy as background, sure, but you’ll be better served by removing distractions and giving yourself over to it. Another reason that one laments the lack of theater opportunity: big bangs, big laughs, and big surprises go well with the biggest screen you’re got.
Available on Prime Video July 2nd, 2025.
For more information, head to the official Prime Video Heads of State webpage.
Final Score: 4.5 out of 5.
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Categories: Films To Watch, Recommendation, Reviews, streaming
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