Film Review: Heads of State

Looking for a new film to watch? I've got you covered with my film review of Amazon Prime's Heads of State.

Whilst completing my work experience, I found it difficult to get much reading done because I was often too tired by the time I arrived home. However, what I did notice was that I ended up watching a fair amount of television and cinema across the two weeks.

I watched a variety of shows, from the One Chicago crossover episodes to Frozen and Snow White. I thoroughly enjoyed each movie and TV show I watched, but there was one that we watched for family movie night that I really liked.

That was Heads of State.

Available on Amazon Prime, Heads of State is a new comic action movie featuring Idris Elba, John Cena and Priyanka Chopra Jonas.

So, if you need a new film to watch, check out my review of Heads of State below.

Review of Heads of State

Genre: Action-Comedy

Where to Watch: Amazon Prime

Rating: 8 out of 10

The Heads of State synopsis, from IMDB, is:

'When the U.K. Prime Minister and U.S. President become the targets of a foreign adversary, they're forced to rely on one another to thwart a global conspiracy.'

That is the basic premise of the film, but there is a lot more to it. Of course, there are very comical aspects of the movie that are sometimes a bit ridiculous. However, the film makes it work.

John Cena plays the U.S. President, a former actor turned politician, echoing Ronald Reagan. Idris Elba obviously plays the U.K. Prime Minister, who has worked his whole life to build his career and became Prime Minister to make a difference.

These two are very much opposite sides of a coin. Elba's character, Sam, is definitely grumpy, sarcastic and also matter-of-fact, whereas Cena's character, Will, plays into the fanfare of being Mr President, often utilises his former Hollywood career and believes he is a real-life action hero - even though it's Sam who served in the army.

The movie begins with Spaniards throwing tomatoes at each other for La Tomatina, only to reveal that a joint task force of the CIA and MI6, led by Priyanka Chopra Jonas's character, Noel, is on a mission within the festival. This operation quickly goes sideways as Noel and her team are taken out by a man called Viktor Gradov.

We're then introduced to Sam and Will in their respective worlds. It quickly becomes evident that there is animosity and disrespect between the two of them. They don't like each other, and they don't trust each other. Both of them have very different ways of handling situations, but ultimately, they're forced to work together.

When both Sam and Will travel on Air Force One, they find themselves parachuting out over Belarus. From there, the action of the film begins.

I really enjoyed these two characters as action stars. Yes, the dynamic between Idris Elba and John Cena works really well.

Whilst Will is sometimes a bit ridiculous and provides the obvious comedy, Sam is such a dry-humoured and witty character that you can't help but laugh at his comments. He already thinks that Will is a bit of a pompous president, whilst Will thinks that Sam is too stuck in his ways.

This relationship means that whilst we get comedy, it is conveyed in a way that makes the stupid look smart.

There are, of course, some errors within the film, mainly surrounding the idea of 'Heads of State' as the U.K. Prime Minister isn't really a head of state. This is, however, pointed out in the film by Noel, which makes the movie much better because even the characters acknowledge the error with the title. Also, the Prime Minister is never 'Mr Prime Minister', that's just the President.

Overall, this film was very comical, but also a great action movie. Yes, there were unbelievable moments, but at the same time, you knew it was unrealistic that it became realistic.

I really enjoyed this movie. Heads of State isn't a favourite action film of mine, but it is one worth watching if you're looking for some action that will make you laugh at the same time.

Have you seen Heads of State? If not, give it a watch and let me know what you think in the comments below.

Until next time...