Idris Elba and John Cena have worked together before. They co-starred in James Gunn's The Suicide Squad (2021), a comic book adaptation that was about a group of people who are forced to work together and fight along side each other, despite not necessarily liking each other. This film, directed by Ilya Naishuller, is strangely a similar take. The only difference is that Gunn's film was about a large group in which Elba and Cena were two. Here, Naishuller's film is a smaller cast and focuses more on Elba and Cena's characters specifically, but essentially it's a similar dynamic where there are two people working or fighting together when they don't like or maybe even actively hate each other. It's not that far flung from the genre of buddy cop movies that often couple two guys who hate each other or simply have ideological differences or personality conflicts. This is a buddy cop movie but between two men who have the highest elected offices, arguably in the world.
Elba stars as Sam Clarke, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He's also a former member of the British Army. He's a bachelor who has had a full career of civil service. He worked his way up through the ranks and through Parliament before eventually being elected as the government's leader in the U.K. He's very much a pragmatist and a realist. He can be charming and funny, as well as very witty, but he doesn't like to put on a show or do things that aren't about policies that make a substantial difference. He's very much a straight shooter.
Cena co-stars as Will Derringer, the President of the United States. Will is the opposite. He very much likes to put on a show. It's because Will was a Hollywood actor who was in some of the biggest blockbusters ever, before going on to become the government leader in the USA. He's charming and funny too, but he doesn't really care that much about being a policy wonk. He never served in the military. He played characters who did but Will never had the kind of civil service career that Sam has. Sam rather resents Will for that fact. Sam doesn't respect Will, nor does he see Will as a serious person in politics. Arguably, Will cares more about his popularity than actual policies.
This film starts off as if it's going to be a repeat of Wolfgang Petersen's Air Force One (1997). That film was more of a serious political thriller, which is certainly not the tone here. Naishuller has directed films like Nobody (2021) and Hardcore Henry (2015). Both of those films were over-the-top action flicks, but, arguably, those films leaned more toward the comedy side of things. If anything, this film has the feeling of something like Olympus Has Fallen (2013) and White House Down (2013), but only if those films were directed by the Farrelly brothers or Paul Feig. Naishuller's film is ridiculous and it's meant to be. As such, it works because he and his actors have fun with it, and there's not much holding back.
Priyanka Chopra (The Matrix Resurrections and Baywatch) also co-stars as Noel Bisset, a MI-6 agent. Chopra has taken several roles over the past decade, such as Quantico (2015) and Citadel (2023), that hasve cemented her as not only a Bollywood star but also a bad-ass action star. Her role here of Noel is meant to be selfsame. Noel is an awesome and amazing person who can shoot a gun and throw a punch in ways to defend herself and take out as many bad guys as possible. What complicates things is that she has a romantic past with Sam. She's simply lovely and cool to watch. Chopra and Elba have chemistry, but this film isn't about dwelling on that for too long. It's more about the budding or not-so budding bromance between the two guys.
From a plane sequence, to several shoot-outs, to a helicopter sequence involving a bank vault, to an epic car chase through the streets of Italy, which would give Fast X (2023), which Cena was in, a run for its money, this film has really fun and entertaining action sequences that are worth watching. This movie came out during the 2025 Independence Day weekend. It is perhaps eligible for Outstanding Television Movie at the 78th Primetime Emmy Awards. There will probably be quite a few competitors for that prize between now and the May 2026 deadline, but right now this movie has my early vote.
Finally, Jack Quaid (Novocaine and Scream) rounds out the cast as Marty Comer, a CIA agent and station agent in Warsaw, Poland. He basically runs a safe house where Will and Sam need to go. He probably gets the funnest and wackiest of action set-pieces of them all. He's not like Elba and Cena who are big, muscular and very buff guys who look like they could be action stars otherwise. Quaid's Marty is a tall, skinny and kind of scrawny dude. He also comes across as a bit of a geek. Yet, when the time comes for kicking butt and taking names, he emerges as a total surprise. He was surely a highlight here.
Rated PG-13 for strong violence, action, language and some smoking.
Running Time: 1 hr. and 56 mins.
Available on Amazon Prime Video.