THE STORY – When terrorists take over the G20 summit, U.S. President Danielle Sutton uses her governing and military experience to defend her family, fellow leaders, and the world.
THE CAST – Viola Davis, Anthony Anderson, Antony Starr, Ramón Rodríguez, Marsai Martin, Douglas Hodge, Sabrina Impacciatore & Clark Gregg
THE TEAM – Patricia Riggen (Director) & Logan Miller, Noah Miller, Erica Weiss & Caitlin Parrish (Writers)
THE RUNNING TIME – 108 Minutes
There’s a reason why many, without any hesitation, consider Viola Davis one of the greatest living actors working today. If an EGOT isn’t enough to convince you, just look at the slew of brilliant performances she has delivered throughout her career. While her bread and butter has mostly been from starring in dramas, according to Davis, it was time for her to have her Harrison Ford “Air Force One” moment on the big screen. On paper, who wouldn’t want to see that? Why shouldn’t Davis be perceived as a prestige actor who can dabble in the trenches of action stardom? Davis’s work in films like “The Woman King” and “Widows” has showcased her devoted physicality to roles of that caliber. So when a film such as “G20” crosses her path, it seems like a no-brainer move for her career to make. Unfortunately, “G20” is just a shell of better films before leading to a pedestrian action film that makes you wonder why Davis even signed up for it in the first place.
“G20” starts with U.S. President Danielle Sutton abruptly awakened by her head of Secret Service, agent Manny Ruiz (Ramón Rodríguez). Audiences expecting to see some connection to the evil plan started by the antagonist Rutledge (played by Antony Starr) soon are witnesses to President Sutton and her husband, the First Gentleman (played by Anthony Anderson), learning that their daughter Serena (played by Marsai Martin) has snuck out of the house. This news, of course, makes its way towards the media, where they question President Sutton’s ability to keep her personal affairs in order and even cast doubt on her new initiative, “The Together Act,” a program that (hilariously) aims to use cryptocurrency as a way to solve world hunger. The former war hero and current commander-in-chief, at the last minute, plans to rope her family along with her to Cape Town, South Africa, in an attempt to help push her initiative at the G20 Summit. As expected for a film of this pedigree, things go south as Rutledge decides to take the leaders of the world hostage, forcing the President to fight back to save the world and, most importantly, her family.
In a world of straight-to-streaming films, “G20” is a bottom-of-the-barrel action flick that is not worthy of the pedigree of Viola Davis. Director Patricia Riggen’s work here is derivative, aspiring to be like films such as “Die Hard” or “Olympus Has Fallen,” bringing nothing of note to these one-location action spectacles. Every set piece plays out the same, watching Davis (and those straggling alongside her) beat up goons and shoot her way through various rooms. The novelty of watching Davis go all action-hero wouldn’t be so quickly watered down if it weren’t for how flat the action is. Riggen isn’t on the pedigree of someone like Gina Prince-Bythewood or even Wolfgang Petersen, and it’s more than apparent in how she stages these sequences. Add terrible editing to the action, and every encounter feels like it’s constructed in a way to generate clappable moments without ever building tension in a manner that feels palpable. It’s even more hilarious when this is a film that won’t even grace the giant screen of a theater for an audience to elicit these intended reactions. There are plenty of films that, while adhering to the cliches of the genre they operate in, can deliver something memorable. There’s not a single aspect of “G20” that will stick with audiences long after seeing it.
In terms of the performances, Davis is serviceable and at her best whenever she’s acting opposite Rodríguez. Their characters are the only two in all of “G20” that manage to build any kind of rapport with one another, which leads to slightly amusing banter at times. The problem is that for a Viola Davis action vehicle to have only a solid performance and nothing else is worrisome. Starr, clearly donning his Homelander attitude, is playing a cartoonish caricature of a Hans Gruber-esque villain that this genre is forever enamored by. Starr plays it too close to the vest, often quite serious, until the film’s final act, where his character starts spiraling in a laughable manner that is certainly not intentional. We’ve all seen what he can do on “The Boys,” and maybe hamming it up a bit would’ve done a lot to make an ounce of this film’s comedic efforts land. Everyone else, whether it’s Anderson, Martin, or even an unfunny performance by Sabrina Impacciatore, can only do so much with this disaster of a script.
It’s not that a film like “G20” is worthy of any deeper thoughts, as its surface-level mission of delivering cheap entertainment is the only thing on its mind. Yet, if given any thought, “G20” plays into a weirdly propped-up promotion of cryptocurrency, which is heralded as this unattained tool for saving the world. There’s something sinister about propping up something that is killing the world, one forest at a time, and making it seem like it is inherently here to be used for good. All are playing into some fantasy of an administration that, in reality, wouldn’t even think to do something as universally beneficial as this. It’s especially ironic given that cryptocurrency and the market are at the center of this film, which is coming out right as our real-life President is tanking the world economy one tariff at a time. It’s clear that all four screenwriters and Riggen gave little thought to this, as Davis is having to plaster her face all over this project, which is now forever stamped into her illustrious career. Luckily for her, Davis’s career will continue to be fine, and she got to live out her dreams of being an action hero, but at what cost?
