Heads of State Review: A Hilarious, Action-Packed Surprise

Rating: 8/10 ⭐️

I started Heads of State with low expectations, but the opening instantly hooked me. After catching snippets of the trailer while scrolling through Twitter, I had written it off as just another over-the-top John Cena action flick. But I was wrong. This turned out to be a surprisingly well-crafted comedy that kept me thoroughly entertained from start to finish.

Cena plays a loud, brash former action star who’s hilariously clueless as the new President of the United States, while Idris Elba is the calm, tactical UK Prime Minister and a former SAS commando. The two end up aboard Air Force One when it’s hijacked and blown out of the sky. At first, I thought we were getting something along the lines of Harrison Ford’s Air Force One, but it quickly became clear this was an entirely different beast.

Cena is a riot as a President who relies more on his acting chops than any real fighting skill—he isn’t good in a fight but somehow stumbles through with sheer bravado and luck. Elba, on the other hand, grounds the chaos with precision and quiet intensity, making all the tactical calls and actually knowing what he’s doing. The action scenes are impressively choreographed, with Cena’s style being chaotic and unrefined—he takes hits, gets lucky, and, as Elba hilariously points out, is “gym strong.” In contrast, Elba delivers traditional, clean combat moves that perfectly complement Cena’s slapstick brawling.

Jack Quaid is excellent in his brief but memorable role as an eager CIA chief who once idolized Cena’s on-screen heroics, and Priyanka Chopra sells her MI6 agent role with conviction, handling sleek action sequences effortlessly.

Halfway through, I realized I wasn’t just mildly enjoying it—I was watching a genuinely good movie. The villain twist stayed under wraps until the end, offering a clever reveal that ties the chaos together, and the chemistry between Cena and Elba made the ride even more engaging. This film even got me thinking about The Old Guard 2, which I reviewed recently. Both movies dropped on streaming the same day, but while The Old Guard was bland and uninspired, Heads of State completely surprised me. It’s a rare straight-to-streaming movie that delivers, and I’d give it a solid 8/10.