There are plenty of action movies we’ve been excited to see this year, and as we wait for blockbusters like Superman and slasher sequels like I Know What You Did Last Summer, John Cena and Idris Elba are hoping to provide audiences with some humor to go with their hijinks. Heads of State will be available to stream with a Prime Video subscription when it hits the 2025 movie premiere calendar just in time for July Fourth, and critics mostly agree it’s the best kind of dumb comedy.
In Heads of State, Idris Elba and John Cena team up in the name of action, playing the British prime minister and the U.S. president, respectively. After an assassination attempt, the bickering world leaders are forced to work together to keep each other alive and thwart a global conspiracy. In CinemaBlend’s review of Heads of State, our own Nick Venable says he “had a blast,” giving the movie 4 out of 5 stars and saying:
[When] John Cena and Idris Elba are removed from the bulk of the other main characters, that's when things get cooking. Without anyone else yapping in their ears, Will and Sam are forced to meet in the middle and work together, which is the foundation of any great buddy action movie. The movie never loses sight of that kinship, either, throughout all the other bone-breaking brawls, bullet-hell gunfights, and twisty plot machinations.
Nate Richard of Collider agrees, giving Heads of State a 7 out of 10 for being “stupid in all the right ways.” Idris Elba and John Cena are so great together that they overshadow a lot of the film’s other shortcomings, Richard says, writing:
Right from the jump, Heads of State knows exactly the kind of movie that it wants to be, and leans into all the goofiness and stupidity that comes across as endearing rather than lazy. [Director Ilya Naishuller] continues to cement himself as one of the most reliable action directors working right now... It's unapologetic, silly, and self-aware, while still having flashy action scenes that look surprisingly great. It's the perfect movie to watch for the 4th of July once you get back from watching the fireworks.
IndieWire’s Siddhant Adlakha gives the flick a B and calls it “a hoot,” writing:
Torn between action and comedy, irony and sentiment, and rah-rah jingoism and genuine self-reflection, Heads of State is a surprisingly entertaining romp. From a distance, the star-studded Prime Video romp feels like a fake movie-within-a-movie — which is ironic, given how many of these it features in it running time — but the stylings of director Ilya Naishuller help rescue it from the algorithmic abyss of films like Red Notice, which feel more like star-driven pyramid schemes than works of popcorn cinema.
Olly Richards of Empire rates the upcoming Idris Elba movie 4 out of 5 stars, writing that this “really good, dumb comedy” has no ambitions to be anything other than a thoroughly good time, allowing it to hit that undemanding but entertaining sweet spot that many action-comedies lack. The critic continues:
After the uncertain start, director Ilya Naishuller develops a strong handle on the tone, building the absurdity gradually, so it never lurches. He piles up touches of goofiness bit by bit, like a game of Buckaroo!, careful never to do too much too quickly and send the whole thing skittering. By the time it reaches its highly improbable conclusion, you could reasonably be rolling your eyes at how mad it all is, but you’ll probably be having such a blast that you won’t feel any need to.
If dumb humor is what Heads of State is going for, Justin Kim of Loud and Clear thinks it perhaps didn’t go far enough. The critic left the theater not fully satisfied but still rates the movie 3 out of 5 stars, writing that it provided too much entertainment to warrant a low score. In Kim’s words:
Heads of State needed to choose a clear path. It could have either doubled down on the silliness of the premise and gone full 80s style camp with its tone and action, or been a bit more original about its drama and spy thriller plot. When the film tries to take the middle road, it ends up flatlining, and we’re left with a movie that’s neither memorably silly nor memorably serious.
It sounds like the critics are mostly in agreement that Heads of State is great for a dose of stupid summer fun. Go ahead and add me to that list, as I also attended an early screening and was highly amused by the banter between John Cena and Idris Elba. You won’t have to wait long or go far for this one. Heads of State hits Amazon’s Prime Video on Wednesday, July 2.
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