Heads of State plus Short Takes on other cinematic topics
“Hey, Buddy, let’s go save the world!”
Reviews and Comments by Ken Burke
I invite you to join me on a regular basis to see how my responses to current cinematic offerings compare to the critical establishment, which I’ll refer to as either the CCAL (Collective Critics at Large) if they’re supportive or the OCCU (Often Cranky Critics Universe) when they go negative. However, due to COVID concerns I’m mostly addressing streaming options with limited visits to theaters, where I don’t think I’ve missed much anyway, but better options are on the horizon. (Note: Anything in bold blue below [some may look near purple] is a link to something more in the review.)
My reviews’ premise: “You can’t please everyone, so you got to please yourself.”
(from "Garden Party" by Rick Nelson and the Stone Canyon Band, 1972 album of the song’s name)
Here’s the trailer:
(Use the full screen button in the image’s lower right to enlarge its size;
activate the same button or use “esc” keyboard key to return to normal.)
If you can abide plot spoilers read on, but this blog’s intended for those who’ve seen the film or want to save some $ (as well as recognizing those readers like me who just aren’t that tech-savvy). To help any of you who want to learn more details yet avoid these all-important plot-reveals I’ll identify any give-away sentences/sentence-clusters with colors plus arrows:
⇒The first and last words will be noted with arrows and red.⇐ OK, now continue on if you prefer.
WHAT HAPPENS: We begin in Buñol, Spain in the midst of the annual Tomatina Festival (occurs in 2025 on August 27) where people pelt each other with rotten tomatoes, but this time there’s a secret group of U.S. CIA and U.K. MI6 agents hidden in the crowd, alerted to possible interruption from assassins working for Russian supervillain Viktor Gradov (Paddy Considine); sure enough, they appear, kill all of our guardians (as "tasteful" amounts of blood replace all that tomato juice), gain access to ECHELON, a global satellite surveillance system. Then we go to D.C. where recently-elected, very-popular, former movie action-hero President Will Derringer (John Cena) meets with Britain’s Prime Minister, Sam Clarke (Idris Elba), a pair with mutual animosity, Clarke feeling Derringer’s not qualified for the job (Sound familiar? But he's more like Arnold Schwarzenegger than Donald "bone spurs" Trump so at least I found cocky Cena amusing as President), Derringer still angry at Clarke for having a fish-and-chips photo op in London with Will’s opponent in that previous election. (He still won so I’m not sure why the ongoing animosity; maybe it's just an easy plot point.)
They agree to travel, in a show of international harmony, on Air Force One to a NATO summit in Trieste, Italy. However, one of Gradov’s guys is on board plus there’s an attack in the air which sends the plane into a tumble with our heroes escaping via parachute into Belarus where they try to steal a car but must fist-fight with some locals before a shotgun-toting woman agrees to drive them into Poland where they take refuge in a Warsaw safe house with CIA’s Marty Comer (Jack Quaid). But, with Gradov in control of ECHELON, their travel’s been tracked so they soon face a hit squad, led by Sasha (Aleksandr Kuznetsov) and Olga (Katrina Durden). Once again, using firepower and tactical skills (Clarke was in the military, Derringer at least knows movie moves) our leads escape (Comer seemingly doesn’t), are surprised to soon join Noelle Bisset (Priyanka Chopra), a CIA agent we assumed died in the Buñol attack. She tells them the NATO meeting is in disarray due to Gradov publicly releasing various national security files so our trio is off to Italy (as we—and Derringer—learn Clarke and Bisset were once involved until she broke it off when he decided to enter politics [to help make the world safer for people like them he said, as she wasn’t having any of it; they're still aloof]).
While on a train they’re attacked by another assassin who’s killed by Gradov’s hacker, Arthur Hammond (Stephen Root), tired of being forced to work for the Russian. He’s mortally wounded, instructs our 3 to go to his office in Zadar, Croatia where they find evidence Gradov’s been working with Derringer’s aide, Simone Bradshaw (Sarah Niles), then they’re attacked again, this time with implications of Clarke’s death. Derringer and Bisset continue on to Trieste where they find the real mole in the American hierarchy is Vice President Elizabeth Kirk (Carla Gugino), now acting as President under the mistaken assumption of Derringer’s demise in the Air Force One crash, who’s—after setting up the false connections to Bradshaw—leading a charge to dismantle NATO because she doesn’t agree the U.S. should be involved in the financial/military obligations of this predominantly-European organization (Now we get the Trump allusions!), although the true reason is Gradov wants revenge because his son was killed in a NATO operation. ⇒At this point, assassins working for Kirk and Gradov chase Derringer and Bisset through Trieste, seemingly have them caught, but they’re saved by Clarke (Big surprise! He’s not dead! Drove to Italy in a stolen fire truck!) with Olga truly dead in the melee. Clarke, Derringer, and Bisset go to the NATO conference, prevent Kirk from dissolving the group even as she’s killed by Gradov whose goons then attack our heroes; in the process, Bisset kills Sasha, Clarke and Derringer finally terminate Gradov by causing his helicopter to crash. Short time later, NATO's stabilized again, Clarke and Derringer are true friends, and we find Comer’s still alive after all (Shock!) as he’s seductively approached in a bar by Bisset.⇐
SO WHAT? As I lamented in my review last week of The Accountant 2 ( Gavin O’Connor), my local COVID-resurgence-based theater avoidance leaves me at the mercy of whatever I take a chance on in the wide world of streaming, which often leads to picking something with actors and/or directors I’m interested in and/or positive-enough reviews to appeal to my interests. However, this makes 2 weeks in a row when something described as an “action-comedy” turns out to be a lot of action (involving numerous deaths) with very little comedy, although this time around I did find the early-and-mid-plot squabbles between the Elba and Cena characters to be generally funny. Plus, I’d had the pleasure of seeing both of them as guests on CBS TV’s The Late Show with Stephen Colbert promoting this movie, making it sound like a buddy-comedy for most of the way with just a bit of violence to spice up the story rather than (I think, but I didn’t take a formal count) even more people led to final rest than what I saw in Ben Affleck’s latest last week. Yet, The Accountant 2 has an R rating while Heads of State is the much-milder (and younger-audience friendly) PG-13, which I can only surmise is based on this latter movie showing guns firing, people falling over, but little blood or graphic shots of bodily-demise (as in the Star Wars series where legions of the departed are also depicted in like manner), which may be more palatable to the ratings board but still leaves us with enough constant fighting to have us think we’ve stumbled onto a WWE pay-for-view with a night of tournament battles to see who’ll be crowned champion (as John Cena has been 26 times, but now, at age 48, he says he’s on his farewell tour in the ring to further concentrate on his screen career). I guess I’ve seen enough of this kind of ongoing cinematic violence in a 2-hour (or less) package to be more tired of it than agonized by it, but my tough-as-they-come wife, Nina—who finally walked out on the final beatdown in The Accountant 2—well represents those who hope to see more interpersonal human development in these stories rather than so damn much of punching, stabbing, shooting, etc.
And, if you don’t find Nina Kindblad to be a trendy-enough influencer on social media (but she certainly influences me in many useful ways), how about Oscar-winning (for Lost in Translation [2003] Best Original Screenplay) director-screenwriter (we won’t get into her brief acting career) Sofia Coppola who avoids violent movies as “gory.” In an article about her opinions on this subject she notes: “ ‘There’s so much gun violence in my country,’ Coppola said. ‘It’s really hard to see (those) movies. Old cowboys are cool, but just the way (violence) is overdone now is upsetting.’ The only exceptions she cited were the films of Martin Scorsese, the director of ‘Goodfellas’ and ‘Killers of the Flower Moon,’ because she claims he is a master filmmaker whose use of violence has a clear narrative purpose. She did not mention her father’s films; ‘The Godfather’ series and the Vietnam War classic ‘Apocalypse Now’ upped the ante for violence in cinema during the 1970s.” Regarding her father’s most-famous works, though, I’ll say there’s little grotesque violence except for a few instances like Sonny’s assassination at the toll booth, Moe Greene’s shot to the eye, Don Lucchesi being stabbed in the neck with his own glasses, and Col. Kurtz being killed with a machete, but in Ms. Coppola’s words, all of these citations of violence are part of “a clear narrative purpose,” so while they may be difficult for a specific viewer to watch, they add needed depth to the story told.
What all the killings in Heads of State contribute to that story I suppose could be rationalized as showing the need for leaders of Western democracies to stand up forcefully to brutal civilization-destructionists, but it could also be seen as how top politicians show ICE agents how to use (overpowering) force to subdue undocumented immigrants (and even citizens caught up in over-active sweeps) in service of ruthless governmental power. I know the filmmakers involved in Heads of State likely had no intentions of implying my second interpretation option, but given what we see in today’s news (and the depiction of Kirk as President working in league with a fanatical, homicidal Russian), I don’t think I’m purely in the realm of fantasy here. Still, Heads of State is just intended as fanciful, diversionary entertainment so if you can tolerate a lot of attack scenes (minimum gore, though, so even Nina lasted all the way) you could probably somewhat (or more) enjoy what’s here, if for no other reason than the pleasing screen presence and interactions at times of Elba and Cena.
BOTTOM LINE FINAL COMMENTS: Nina, Sofia, and anyone else who would find this movie to be at least negotiatingly-watchable would find they’re not alone as the critical community is in marginal CCAL mode with the Rotten Tomatoes positive reviews at 72%, the Metacritic average score much lower at 57% as accolades aren’t pouring in for this somewhat-silly concept. Those who are willing to give it a positive pass include Andrew Lawrence of U.K.’s The Guardian: “Fun, fiery and totally frivolous, Heads of State is a perfect summer movie with great potential for future sequels. (The end scene certainly sets that up.) But getting it to launch first in theaters next time might take a global coalition. Do we have the votes?” The AP’s Jake Coyle, though, has better things to see somewhere else: “As the MI6 agent Noel Bisset, Priyanka Chopra Jones gives the movie a kick. But her scenes are left to the beginning and end of the movie. In between, we’re left to wonder where she went, how two political leaders would have such non-existent security and whether a few half-decent jokes [such as "gym tough" vs. "tough tough"] are enough to forgive the movie’s geopolitical delusions.” If you read Lawrence’s full review he makes a solid argument Amazon/MGM should have released this in theaters where he feels it had a good chance of making some impact rather than going straight to streaming, but streaming it is on Amazon Prime Video, free to subscribers or dive into their whole library, $8.99, for at least 1 month.
I think I’ve given Heads of State enough of my time/energy, so I’ll leave you with my usual Musical Metaphor which this time is War’s “Why Can’t We Be Friends?” (1975 album, same name) at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sH0Qda32IKM&list=RDsH0Qda32IKM&start_radio=1 using
marginally-relevant lyrics like: "I’d kinda like to be the President / So I can show you how your money’s spent” and “I know you’re working for the CIA / They wouldn’t have you in the Mafi-A” (or, maybe I just like this song due to my reality: “Sometimes I don’t speak right / But I know what I’m talking about”). This tune tries to make the case even the bitterest enemies can put their differences aside, as Clarke, Derringer, and bickering NATO allies do here, with its useful message of better understanding might lead to some level of mutual acceptance (I’m still working on that when I see the daily Trump news), even as I admit that some might see this video as being as silly a concept as what’s shown in Heads of State; or, as Bob Dylan said: “Then time will tell just who has fell / And who’s been left behind / When you go your way and I go mine” (his 1966 Blonde on Blonde album).
SHORT TAKES
Related Links Which You Might Find Interesting:
Some options for your well-studied, possible-invested consideration: (1) IMDb Summer Watch Guide; (2) IMDb July 2025 Staff Picks; (3) IMDb Five Things to Watch on the week of 7/7/2025.
We encourage you to visit the Summary of Two Guys Reviews for our past posts* (scroll to the bottom of this Summary page to see additional info about your wacky critic, Ken Burke, along with contact info and a great retrospective song list). Overall notations for this blog—including Internet formatting craziness beyond our control—may be found at our Two Guys in the Dark homepage. If you’d like to Like us on Facebook (yes?) please visit our Facebook page. We appreciate your support whenever and however you can offer it unto us! Please also note that to Post a Comment below about our reviews you need to have either a Google account (which you can easily get at https://accounts.google.com/NewAccount if you need to sign up) or other sign-in identification from the pull-down menu below before you preview or post. You can also leave comments at our Facebook page, although you may have to somehow register with us there in order to comment (FB procedures: frequently perplexing mysteries for us aged farts).
*Please ignore previous warnings about a “dead link” to our Summary page because the problem’s been manually fixed so that all postings since July 11, 2013 now have the proper functioning link.
If you’d rather contact Ken directly rather than leaving a comment here at the blog please
use my email address of kenburke409@gmail.com—type it directly if the link doesn’t work.
OUR POSTINGS PROBABLY LOOK BEST ON THE MOST CURRENT VERSIONS OF MAC OS AND THE SAFARI WEB BROWSER (although Google Chrome usually is decent also); OTHERWISE, BE FOREWARNED THE LAYOUT MAY SEEM MESSY AT TIMES.
Finally, for the data-oriented among you, Google stats say over the past month the total unique hits at this site were 18,473. (As always, we thank all of you for your ongoing support with hopes you’ll continue to be regular readers.) Below is a snapshot of where those responses have come from within the previous week (appreciation for the unspecified “Others” also visiting Two Guys’ site):
0 Response to "Heads of State plus Short Takes on other cinematic topics"
Posting Komentar