G20 (2025) Review!!

Synopsis – Terrorists take over the G20 summit with President Sutton, bringing her governing and military experience to defend her family, company, and the world.

My Take – Indeed, Viola Davis is one of the best actresses working right now. A decorated stage actor who gives a stirring monologue like no other. With works like Fences (2016), Widows (2018) and The Woman King (2022) standing tall in her filmography, she has rightfully earned a reputation for always bringing a serious tone to her characters.

However, for her latest, a Prime Video release, Davis is giving drama a rest and lets her fists do the talking in a straightforward action flick that acts as a fun diversion for a performer who often hasn’t had the kind of roles she deserved.

Echoing the intensity of a formula already perfected in films like Die Hard (1988), Olympus has fallen (2013) and Air Force One (1997), along with at least fifty other, the result is a solid action-packed thriller that mainly works due to the fresh dynamic it offers with Anthony Starr, widely known for his role as Homelander in the very successful Prime Video series, The Boys.

Yes, the film suffers from pacing issues, and certain plot beats feel predictable, making the middle act a bit sluggish. Still, the film, directed by Patricia Riggen (The 33) and written by Caitlin Parrish, Erica Weiss, and Logan & Noah Miller, thrives on energy and the kind of representation rarely seen in big-budget action flicks.

And while one does wish that Davis had a less schmaltzy and more coherent story to work with here, it manages to deliver where it matters: watching the Oscar winner command the screen, eat up the screen by turning corny moments into entertaining ones and delivering generic lines of dialogue with gravitas.

The story follows Danielle Sutton (Viola Davis), the current president of the United States who won the election by being a war hero in Iraq, even though that doesn’t make it any easier to be Mom at home in the Oval Office, where she’s raising a rebellious teenage daughter, Serena (Marsai Martin), and precocious son Demetrius (Christopher Farrar).

After Serena goes viral for partying underage at a bar, determined to keep a closer eye on them, Danielle bringing them, and her supportive husband Derek (Anthony Anderson), along with her on the trip to the all-important G20 summit in Cape Town, South Africa. Torn between family and duty, Danielle hopes this annual meeting of the planet’s wealthiest nations can lead to productive change, not just empty promises.

But her optimism is quickly dashed once a group of mercenaries led by Rutledge (Antony Starr) invades the summit with a plan to short the global currencies so that his investments in cryptocurrency will spike. And while almost everyone is taken hostage or killed, Danielle, along with her friend and longtime security detail Agent Manny Ruiz (Ramón Rodríguez) and a couple other world dignitaries, manage to escape.

Running around the lavish hotel with Rutledge’s men in close pursuit, and the outside world cut-off, Danielle is forced to draw from her military training in order to rescue her colleagues and her family.

From there on it is the sort of autopilot streaming feature whose twists you can comfortably guess within about ten minutes. Thankfully, the tight framing is helpful for a film that can wobble under the demands of its various plot points, some of which end up competing for attention. But without ever stooping to self-parody, the film does occasionally attempt to goof on its own clichés. All the while weaving in the social and political pressures faced by a Black woman ascending to the highest office and how she’s eventually thrust into an explosive global crisis.

Though, director Riggen struggles to balance the tonal requirements of the thread she sets up, resulting in a film that’s slow to get going. But once the principal heroes and villains have been established and the perfunctory narrative throat-clearing is out of the way, it finds its groove.

While the effects are serviceable, the film does a good job of creating opportunities for fights to take place in unexpected settings and not always with characters who knew their way around a gun. The stunts are relatively inventive and appropriately balletic.

Personally, I enjoyed the dynamic of the Sutton family. The complicated relationship between Danielle and her teenage daughter, Serena, was set up from the start. The way their bond developed throughout the film felt natural, and I was glad to see where their story ended when all was said and done. It also does a good job of building the friendship between Danielle and Manny through their action scenes together, playing on their military/marine backgrounds as the situations became more intense.

Performances, Viola Davis, as always, delivers hard. She’s having fun with the role, roundhouse kicking villains and toting a gun while wearing her evening gown. The acclaimed actress embraces even the silliest parts of the story and that commitment makes it easier to forgive the predictable nature of the narrative. Antony Starr sells exactly the same maniac-madman shtick of every other film terrorist. Although he retains his characteristic intensity, he can’t escape the shadow of Homelander.

Ramón Rodríguez turns out to be a major surprise elements, selling the action beats whole heartedly and brings a certain charm to his role. In supporting roles, Anthony Anderson, Sabrina Impacciatore, MeeWha Alana Lee, Douglas Hodge, Clark Gregg, Marsai Martin, Christopher Farrar and Elizabeth Marvel are likable. On the whole, ‘G20‘ is as a solid throwback popcorn action flick anchored by a swaggering Viola David.