Idris Elba (“Three Thousand Years of Longing,” 2021), John Cena (“Fast X,” 2023) and Priyanka Chopra Jonas (“The White Tiger,” 2021) headline director Ilya Naishuller’s (“Nobody,” 2021) action comedy “Heads of State,” in which a tenuous alliance between movie-star-turned-POTUS Will Derringer (Cena) and British Prime Minister Sam Clarke (Elba) turns into a global political nightmare, with a conspiracy rearing its ugly head just ‘round the corner.

For a movie with a logline that sounds like no laughing matter, “Heads of State” comes off surprisingly funny and lands its inventive visual gags gracefully. Some of the movie’s most amusing moments come from the most well-timed, perfectly choreographed physical comedy by its male leads. It’s when the attempts at humor come from a constant, quippy back-and-forth that the journey gets as bumpy as the one the two male leads are a part of.

You’d think Naishuller—whose first two films boasted the most gleefully squelchy R-rated action—would be a bit tied down by the PG-13 of it all, but he makes it all look like a piece of cake, gliding between set-piece and sight gag like a sleight of hand, without taking the easy way out. The action is breathlessly paced, shot with an almost manic rush of creative movement by cinematographer Ben Davis (“The Banshees of Inisherin,” 2022), and often grabs your attention throughout its intentional stylistic chaos, à la Adam McKay’s “The Other Guys” (2010) and David Leitch’s “Bullet Train” (2022).

Unfortunately, in its attempt to keep its touch consistently light throughout its 113-minute runtime, “Heads of State” can’t quite land the somber, emotional beats for the kind of emotionally immersive filmmaking experience it could have been. And with a cast this stacked—with award-winning heavy-hitters Elba and Chopra Jonas backed by an excellent supporting cast, including, but not limited to Sarah Niles (“F1,” 2025), Paddy Considine (“The Death of Stalin,” 2019), Carla Gugino (“Zack Snyder’s Justice League,” 2021), Sharlto Copley (“Monkey Man,” 2024), and Jack Quaid (“Companion,” 2025)—there’s a nagging feeling that there could have been space for a broader spectrum of human emotions that doesn’t feel as tacked on as it does in the film.

That Naishuller’s latest is meant to be watched at home or on the go—this is a Prime Video Original film—makes the overall flatness when executing more serious narrative turns a lot easier to handle. It doesn’t absolve “Heads of State” of its flaws, but it doesn’t harm prospects either. Add to it the well-acted turns of its cast, a stylistic flourish in its action, and film editor Tom Harrison-Read’s (“Tomb Raider,” 2018) editing, which boasts match cuts that feel like visual poetry in action, the movie has enough to be your fun, dumb throwback to the light-touch action comedies of the ‘90s and ‘00s.