On April 10, the Prime Video streaming service released the action movie «G20» starring Viola Davis and Antony Starr. Davis played the main role of the US president and also produced the movie. What is the result of the next version of «Die Hard» and even with a political tinge — we will tell you in the review below.
Pluses:
the presence of Anthony Starr as a villain; the comparison of local South African agents with the Wakandans is a bit amusing; in general, it can pass for a good comedy for some;
Minuses:
the utter implausibility of what is happening on the screen; because of the poorly staged battle scenes, the film is completely untenable as an action movie; it is a complete secondary thing;
«G20»
Genre action movie, thriller
Director Patricia Riggen
Starring Viola Davis, Anthony Anderson, Marsai Martin, Ramon Rodriguez, Antony Starr, Douglas Hodge, Elizabeth Marvel, Sabrina Impacciatore, Christopher Farrar, Clark Gregg
Premiere Prime Video
Year of release 2025
Website IMDb
At the G20 summit in Cape Town, U.S. Army veteran and President of the United States, Danielle Sutton, plans to present her plan to empower African farmers by giving them access to digital currency. But before she can properly put on her uncomfortable high-heeled shoes and beautiful red dress, the luxury hotel where the summit is taking place is taken over by terrorists led by former Australian special forces officer Edward Rutledge.
For Mrs. President, the situation is further complicated by the fact that her family — husband Derek and teenage children Serena and Demetrius — have arrived in the South African capital with her, so each of them is also at risk. However, in the chaos of the building takeover, Danielle, Secret Service chief agent Manny Ruiz, and several other forum participants manage to escape and hide. Now, the desperate leader of the country will have to take up arms and recall all the fighting skills she knows to fight back against the restless bastards.
We are living in fascinating times… nowadays, it is customary to introduce new heroes, or rather new heroines of our time, into stories as old as time. Nowadays, not only charismatic NYPD detectives or muscular bulls with the steadfastness of Dwayne Johnson, but also belligerent young ladies. And of completely different professions and social statuses — from ordinary window cleaner to, as we can see, the President of the United States herself. Instead, the villains are still the same mercenary, short-sighted scoundrels as they were almost 40 years ago — they are always looking for a way to take over a skyscraper or ruin a solemn event to get rich.
Usually, in action movies involving White House officials and terrorists, it is the president’s person who needs protection, unless, of course, it is Harrison Ford. It is appropriate to recall the year 2013, when the twin films «Olympus Has Fallen» and «White House Down» were released one after the other. In the former, Gerard Butler, played by Aaron Eckhart, stood up to defend the head of state, while in the latter, Channing Tatum, played by Jamie Foxx, had to save the president in a John McClane-esque T-shirt. In «G20», the situation is exactly the opposite because here the mission to eliminate the bad guys fell on the not-so-fragile shoulders of Viola Davis’ character.
From a geek point of view, the screen featured a natural confrontation between Amanda Waller and Homelander the only difference is that this time the superhero powers went to a determined woman; she even has a matching red cape in her outfit. On the political side, if you will — Kamala Harris and Donald Trump it is not for nothing that the malicious character Antony Starr, without a conscience, collapses the global market with the help of disinformation and manipulation of crypto.
But if you put aside the feminist, political, or any other subtext and look at «G20» with an unclouded, pure eye as a purely genre product, the authors have nothing to offer.
And the point is not that there is absolutely unrealistic nonsense and illogic going on in the frame, but that the film is simply not good either as a spectacular action movie or as a tense hostage thriller. The rather rare battle scenes look unconvincing and uncomplicated. Everything that happens in between, such as the clarification of the relationship between a mother and a rebellious daughter, or the confessional dialogues between the president and the odious British prime minister, is not worthy of attention.
In one of the scenes, a couple of cool South African agents come into play, who, of course, had been freed from captivity by American rescuers, and at the same moment Demetrius makes a phenomenal remark «you’re from Wakanda!». It’s funny, but you can’t even argue with the kid — indeed, it’s as if the shaved-headed warrior from Dora Milaje has migrated here. In another scene, missiles are fired at the presidential limousine, but the car is notable not only for being armored but also for being able to perform a bizarre flip — now it’s clear why the vehicle is nicknamed the Beast.
