Heads of State (2025) Movie Review: Cena and Elba Carry An Otherwise Okay Action Comedy

Streaming films. Not only are they basically the modern equivalent of TV movies, but they’re also like a box of chocolates; you never know what you’re going to get. Unless your company’s name is Netflix, there is a significant chance you will receive not a “Tudum” but rather a “Tun Tun Tuuuum.” Even so, occasionally you might get a good or even great film that receives major awards recognition, such as “The Irishman” or “The Power of the Dog.”

Then there’s Amazon Prime Video. A platform that’s been slowly making a name for itself in the streaming arena, I would personally probably place them in second place in terms of their quality. They also got a few films that have garnered some awards, love, and wins, such as “Sound of Metal” and “Manchester by the Sea,” but they also have a few stinkers or disappointing movies like “The Tomorrow War” and “Coming 2 America.” Now, where would I personally place their new action comedy starring Peacemaker and Bloodsport?

Well, it truly depends on how you approach this movie and what you expect from it. If you are coming into this expecting Shakespeare, well, I am sorry to tell you, my friend, but you’re delusional. Now, if you come here expecting a thrilling, fun action comedy, it’s not terrible, but if the whole point of a comedy is to make you laugh, then I am sad to say it failed to do that. There are plenty of attempts made both through visual gags and dialogues, but a lot of it falls flat and into the cringeworthy territory.

And don’t get me wrong, the cast does their best to make it work. The constant banter between Cena and Elba was solid, though the whole fish running joke became tiresome very quickly, although they both had a really great chemistry. Now that shouldn’t come as a surprise, as they had a great dynamic in Gunn’s underrated “The Suicide Squad.” The film recaptures some of the magic, unfortunately, the same cannot be said about the script.

Heads of State (2025) — A still from “Heads of State” (2025)

The only scene that made me laugh —which I guess goes to show what kind of weird sense of humor I have—was that small montage where a character explains what they’ve been up to. It was a creative and fun way to explain this in what could have easily been spit out as exposition, which the movie has plenty of.

Explore More: Top 10 Best Action Movies of 2024

Now, for the action. Here’s where the movie truly excels. If you’ve seen Ilya Naishuller’s previous works, like “Hardcore Henry” and “Mr. Nobody,” you shouldn’t be surprised he actually delivers in this department. Whether it’s in the hand-to-hand combat or the more elaborate stuff, the kinetic camerawork and editing make some of them exciting. I use the word “some” and not “all,” as they all are not hits. There’s one scene featuring locals in a small village that had the potential to be great, but I feel it ran a little too long. It was intended to be humorous as well, but I found myself sitting there with a stoic expression. I recognize the attempts to make me laugh or smile, but unfortunately, it didn’t elicit any of it in me.

The best set pieces are definitely in the second half. The one in a warehouse was actually fun, where Elba’s Sam was trying to figure things out as a bunch of SWAT-dressed goons tried to take our heroes out. There were a lot of explosions, gunshots, a bazooka, a vault being pulled off a building, and a bad guy who survived only to get shot by another bad guy.

But the highlight, 100%, has to be the limo fight scene all at the rhythm of Mötley Crüe’s “Kickstart My Heart”. Don’t want to spoil it in case you haven’t seen it, but it involves a car chase, more bazooka, flames, more explosions, Cena almost getting his little friend being blown out – it’s hands down one of the best action set pieces of not only the film but the year so far. It’s exhilarating, it’s funny, it’s everything I wished most of the film was. If we had gotten more of that, this would be a full win. In terms of the other people in the cast, Priyanka Chopra is the other highlight, delivering on the badass and having good chemistry with our two guys.

Everybody else was heavily underutilized. Like this is a who’s who of character and emerging actors, with some getting the chance to shine longer in the spotlight, like Quaid with that scene in the house, and at the end, while others have not much to do, such as Stephen Root and Carla Gugino. Paddy Considine is here as the bad guy in another Prime movie (the first being “Deep Cover”), which I couldn’t help but laugh at, yet at the same time feeling kind of disappointed by, as my man barely has anything to do here but drop a few lines and look and act menacing. Let’s just say he had more to do in “Deep Cover” than he does here. And I hope you didn’t come here expecting to see Copley.

All in all, I’m not sure this film would stay with me for as long a time as other films in the genre or even in any of the involved filmographies do, but it’s still a decently entertaining movie. Elba and Cena do a lot of the heavy lifting in terms of keeping the film afloat with their solid chemistry. As I’ve said before, I’d honestly put at least one of the action scenes in my top picks for the year; I’ve rewatched it three times today alone.