What’s It About
U.S. President Danielle Sutton must defend her family, fellow leaders, and the world when the G20 summit in Cape Town, South Africa, is taken over by terrorists.
WHAT’S IT ABOUT
When terrorists take over the G20 summit, US President Danielle Sutton uses her governing and military experience to defend her family, fellow leaders, and the world.
MOVIESinMO REVIEW
At its core, G20 centers on a Black American family within the White House with enough action and a good bad guy to provide good fun. Does it do anything radically new? No. But that is definitely a movie you can watch from home without shame. The moment Viola Davis steps into the dual role of President Danielle Sutton – war hero turned Commander-in-Chief who can throw down when the time is right – you know you’re in capable hands. No surprise there. Davis brings presidential gravitas to the role and convincingly action-packed chops. At this point, is there anything she can’t do? The woman stocks up on award-worthy roles like they’re going out of style. The movie picks up pace after a minute when we meet the First Family: President Sutton, her supportive husband Derek (played by Anthony Anderson), tech-hungry daughter Serena (played by Marsai Martin), and goofy son Demetrius (played by Christopher Farrar). Where most movies fail to convincingly make the “president character” seem real, Davis slips into the role so easily. The domestic life also pays off – Derek contentedly stands by his alpha wife without losing his own individuality, and the kids actually possess personalities instead of existing as a pair of plot conveniences. When finally the action gets going, it refuses to stop. The G20 conference in Cape Town is hijacked by terrorists led by Rutledge (Antony Starr), who’s purely just evil because it was necessary for the script. President Sutton, her Secret Service agent Manny (Ramon Rodriguez), and a few escaped world leaders must outsmart Rutledge’s gang while the First Family tries to survive. The action scenes cover all the bases – car chases, explosions, hand-to-hand combat, and shocking fatalities that actually made me gasp. Sure, we’ve done it better elsewhere, but for a streaming movie, it gets the job done. The violence hits hard without being gratuitous, and the movie strikes a good balance of its more serious notes with just the right amount of humor. I liked how early on in the movie, we’re established that President Sutton is a military veteran who continues to practice the martial arts. It makes her action heroine makeover believable instead of eye-roll inducing. Director Patricia Riggen wisely refrains from having Davis in absurd situations fighting hulking bad guys simultaneously. When she does throw hands, it looks real. However, G20 suffers a bit in a couple of ways. Serena’s character is the tired stereotype of the obnoxious teen who refuses to stop causing trouble. Even when she tries to help, she seems to cause more trouble than good. The film also suffers from some overly long fight scenes that could have ended faster if characters were acting more intelligently. And the way the film presents the press as pliable purveyors of misinformation is clunky. Antony Starr is a good bad guy, though, if you’ve seen him play Homelander in The Boys, you know that he’s quite capable of doing a lot more depth than he’s given here. The supporting ensemble – especially Rodriguez as the diligent Secret Service agent and foreign leaders portrayed by Douglas Hodge, Sabrina Impacciatore, and MeeWha Alana Lee – rounds it out well. Let’s get real – this isn’t after Oscar gold. It’s just a straightforward action movie with plot contrivance and questionable character decisions. But it knows what it is and doesn’t try to be otherwise. The ending of the film reinforces an in-your-face global cooperation message that does feel a little out of touch with our world today, but sometimes we just need that hope. G20 is excellent Friday night TV – order some takeout, your drink of choice, and enjoy watching Viola Davis kick butt as she runs a country. It has good rewatch value and despite the violence, is appropriate for most audiences. What’s noteworthy is the manner in which the film uses AI technology as a weapon in an intelligent way at times that actually proves more threatening than the human villains. The script might’ve capitalized more on this element instead of presenting us with yet another generic terrorist threat. Ultimately, G20 surmounts its shortcomings largely because of Davis’s authoritative presence and the movie knowing what it should be – engaging without pretensions. It doesn’t revolutionize the action movie genre, but it doesn’t need to. Every now and then, we just need to see a Black woman president dodging terrorists in a frayed evening gown and tennis shoes. So although I wouldn’t rush to see this one on the big screen, it’s worth streaming on an evening when you’re in the mood for something that’ll keep you engaged without requiring too much heavy mental exertion. G20 knows where it’s going and stays there, giving a good ride while it’s at it.
OUR RATING – A KAMALA 7.5