“Heads of State”, which was released on Amazon Prime in last week, works best whenever it focuses on its preposterous story premise for comedy. While it sometimes becomes a bit too serious and intense whenever it is on action mode, the movie compensates for this weak aspect to some degree via the game efforts from the main cast members, and you may gladly go along with that if you simply want to kill your spare time.

At first, we are introduced to the two vastly contrasting politicians at the top of their field. Although he was formerly a popular Hollywood action movie star not so far from Sylvester Stallone or Arnold Schwarzenegger, Will Derringer (John Cena) is now the President of the United States, and he has been fairly popular even though he looks as crass and superficial as Donald J. Trump. In case of Sam Clarke (Idris Elba), he is current Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, and, as a serious politician who is also a British Army veteran, he does not welcome Derringer much when Derringer drops by London before they attend the NATO summit conference to be held in Trieste, Italy later.

After the unexpected argument between them unfolded right in front of many journalists, these two politicians come to dislike them more than before, but they eventually agree to show the public that the “special relationship” between the countries represented by them remains intact despite their embarrassing clash in front of the press. Clarke gets on the Air Force One along with Derringer for going to Trieste together, and everything seems to be under control for both of them at least for a while.

However, there soon comes a very big trouble. As shown from the opening action sequence set in the middle of that famous tomato fight festival in Buñol, Spain, there is a serious national security threat against US and its allies from a ruthlessly vengeful Russian terrorist leader and his cronies, and they swiftly attack the Air Force One when it is flying to Trieste. Right before the airplane crashes to somewhere in the western region of Belarus (Please don’t ask me how that is possible), Derringer and Clarke manage to escape, and they soon must find any possible way to cross the border between Belarus and Poland and then go to Trieste.

It goes without saying that Clarke and Derringer are a mismatched duo from the beginning, and the movie generates some good laughs from how they are woefully unprepared for this emergency of theirs in one way or another. While Derringer does not have any particular set of skills for their survival, Clarke actually does not have any combat experience during his time in the British Army, so they end up depending on the kindness of a stranger when they need to cross the border without getting noticed or caught at all.

And things become all the more serious for them after that narrative point. That terrorist leader is still searching for Derringer and Clarke for having his personal revenge on them, and Clarke and Derringer fortunately get some help from an MI6 agent named Noel Bisset (Priyanka Chopra Jonas), who was incidentally once quite close to Clarke before he became a politician. They and Bisset subsequently embark on their journey to Trieste, and, as going through more dangers on their way, they become more determined to survive and then arrive at that NATO summit conference in time.

While it unfortunately loses its balance between action and comedy later in the story, the movie retains its sense of fun to some degree. Yes, our two heroes surely come to learn how to get along well with each other despite being quite different from each other, and it is often amusing to watch how they push and pull each other throughout the story. While John Cena, who has shown more comic potential during last several years, ably balances his character between silliness and amiability, Idris Elba, who previously appeared along with Cena in “The Suicide Squad” (2021) and also participated in the production of the film along with Cena, is an effective straight foil to his co-star, and the best moments in the film depend a lot on their solid comic chemistry.

The main weak aspect of the film is the relatively bland supporting characters surrounding its two main characters. Priyanka Chopra Jonas, who previously appeared in “The White Tiger” (2021), brings some pluck and spirit to her character, but she is only required to accompany Cena and Elba when she is doing some action across the screen. In case of several other notable performers including Stephen Root, Carla Gugino, Jack Quaid, and Paddy Considine, they are also limited by their thankless roles, but Considine generates a considerable sense of menace and intensity as the main villain of the story while Quaid delightfully chews every second of his brief but humorous appearance.

On the whole, “Heads of State”, directed by Ilya Naishuller, is not good enough for recommendation, but it is mostly watchable for some entertaining moments generated between its two lead performers who could be allowed to go further for more laugh and amusement for us. To be frank with you, I recommend another recent Amazon Prime film “Deep Cover” (2025) instead mainly because it is funnier and more entertaining in comparison, but “Heads of State” did not bore me at least, and I will not stop you at all from watching it.