G20 (A PopEntertainment.com Movie Review)

G20

G20 (2025)

Starring Viola Davis, Anthony Anderson, Marsai Martin, Christopher Farrar, Ramón Rodríguez, Antony Starr, John Hoogenakker, Douglas Hodge, Elizabeth Marvel, Sabrina Impacciatore, MeeWha Alana Lee, Clark Gregg, Gideon Emery, Conrad Kemp, Joseph Steven Yang, Emmanuel Castis, David James, Julius Tennon, Ali Suliman and Angela Sarafyan.

Screenplay by  Caitlin Parrish & Erica Weiss and Logan Miller & Noah Miller.

Directed by Patricia Riggen.

Distributed by Amazon MGM Studios. 108 minutes. Rated R.

G20 starts out with one truly brilliant idea – casting Viola Davis as the President of the United States. I mean, could you imagine that? Viola Davis as the most powerful person in the world? The world would certainly be a much better place with her in the office than it is now.

Unfortunately, that concept is sort of where the movie’s ingenuity tops out.

G20 is part of an admittedly limited sub-genre; stories of the Commander in Chief as a kick-ass action hero, single-handedly taking on danger – like Eurotrash mercenaries or monsters – to save the world. The basic idea has been done before in things like Air Force One, White House Down, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, Independence Day and the James Patterson/Bill Clinton novel The President is Missing.

There is probably a reason why this storyline has never completely caught on. Could you imagine if in the late 1980s Ronald Reagan played John McLain in Die Hard rather than Bruce Willis? Well, G20 is essentially that movie, if Ronald Reagan were a tough, determined Black woman and Nakatomi Plaza were a South African resort which is hosting the world’s leaders for the titular diplomatic summit.

So, it is hardly the most unique movie out there. It is cheesy, ridiculous and in many ways makes no sense. However, if you turn off your mind and take it at the b-movie level it is swimming in, it’s kind of entertaining. Not great, mind you, but as silly action fluff goes, you can do worse.

And if it occasionally stumbles over some astute true-life political realities, well don’t worry, there will be a fight or an explosion soon enough.

The basic idea has a group of mercenaries (led by Antony Starr and John Hoogenakker) taking over the G20 and holding world leaders hostage – using disinformation and fear to cause the collapse of the world economy. Part of it is political, but mostly they are trying to become obscenely rich through the world’s citizens panicking and investing in bitcoin. This subplot coincidentally takes on even more power as this film is being released right in the middle of the violent economic instability caused by the Trump tariffs.

Unfortunately for the bad guys, a few of the leaders escape their plan, including US President Danielle Sutton (Davis), her Secret Service agent (Ramón Rodríguez, star of the series Will Trent), the Treasury Secretary (Elizabeth Marvel), the British Prime Minister (Douglas Hodge), an Italian representative (Sabrina Impacciatore) and the First Lady of South Korea (MeeWha Alana Lee).

Even more unfortunate for them, it turns out that the President is a kick-ass fighter, and she and her secret service agent basically single-handedly takes on dozens of bad guys while the other refugee world leaders bicker and cower in fright.

She’s also a hell of a mother, so her husband (Anthony Anderson) and kids (Marsai Martin and Christopher Farrar) are also free help to free the world leaders, despite the fact that the teen girl is pissed at mom for grounding her.

It’s all pretty ridiculous, but it’s also kind of fun if you are in the right mood. 

Jay S. Jacobs

Copyright ©2025 PopEntertainment.com. All rights reserved. Posted: April 10, 2025.