‘G20’ movie review: Viola Davis’ fierce US President fights crypto terrorists and high heels in a standard procedure actioner

Viola Davis in ‘G20’
| Photo Credit: Ilze Kitshoff

In line with the many president-saves-the-day films—an action sub-genre popularised by titles like Air Force One, White House Down, and the Has Fallen films—comes G20, starring a fierce Viola Davis as a POTUS who can throw quite a punch. That it’s headlined by Davis, an Academy Award winner known for meaty roles, and directed by Jack Ryan director Patricia Riggen, might deceive you into believing that G20 is an intricately plotted, genre-redefining action film; instead, it makes you double-check if it isn’t a parody.

A half-corny, half-serious attempt to cash in on the popcorn entertainment deficit, it’s the perfect brain-rot escapist actioner on streaming. Its narrative heft rests on one ridiculous thought — what if the US President, conveniently an ex-soldier, is tasked to save 19 other world leaders? The film hardly attempts to do anything fresh, except that this President is a black female — it seems when Prime Video was setting up this project, the scales at the White House were tilted in favour of a certain woman of colour. It doesn’t help that there is nothing beyond this goofy irony to remind you of the real-world parallels — except maybe that the antagonist of this world, who is in bed with the right-wing, is a crypto-addict.

When President Danielle Sutton (Davis) leaves for Cape Town to attend the G20 summit, she is on a difficult mission: to convince world leaders to get on board with her Together Act, a plan of action against the hunger crisis that would grant farmers in sub-Saharan countries access to digital currencies (a sanitised, trouble-free reason to justify use of cryptocurrencies). Sutton’s cavalry includes her husband, First Gentleman Derek Sutton (Anthony Anderson), and their two children, son Demetrius, and a particularly rebellious teen daughter, Serena (Marsai Martin), whose shenanigans prompted POTUS to take along her kids.

Everything moves swimmingly until crypto terrorist Rutledge (Anthony Starr; Homelander with facial hair and yet another evil grin) takes over the summit with help from some friendly insiders who hate Sutton’s guts. However, thanks to her favourite, loyal bodyguard Manny Ruiz (Ramón Rodríguez; who even gets to play ‘the floor is lava’ with a terrorist), Sutton manages to evade Rutledge and attempts to escape, along with an infuriating British Prime Minister, a charming old South Korean First Lady, and an Italian delegate (two of them are opposed to Sutton’s policy, a chef’s kiss of convenient plotting). Meanwhile, Derek and the kids go about their own escape plan.

Rutledge, however, needs Sutton to execute his plans. He wishes to shoot up crypto markets by forcing world leaders into submitting their voices for a deepfake technology that would allow him to short global stock markets. This deepfake tech is one of the two inventive ideas that almost sell this story. The other is how the terrorists store their stolen crypto on a physical hard disk — this allows the film to materialise crypto coins into tangible money, allowing some easy cat-and-mouse scenarios; it’s also logic-proof since a cold wallet is considered the safest.

G20 is thin with its plotting, andyou appreciate how it doesn’t pretend to become anything mind-blowing. Within 15 minutes, Starr’s crypto thief is revealed to be the head of the private security detail tasked to protect the POTUS, so you know what’s coming. Right at the beginning, you see Sutton and Manny practising martial arts and trading some friendly jabs, a giveaway on who’s going to help the brawny president.

Viola Davis and Antony Starr in ‘G20’
| Photo Credit:
Ilze Kitshoff

In fact, G20 is so template-driven that you would find more joy in spotting such genre-inspired cliches. For instance, in the very first scene, we realise Serena has somehow repeatedly hacked the White House security to the annoyance of her parents and the Secret Service. Sutton decrees her to never attempt it again, and every brain cell would tell you that Serena’s skills would come in handy later. Furthermore, it is revealed too early that the South African hotel uses the same RFID tech that Serena breached at the White House. All it takes is a sappy conversation between Sutton and Derek to prepare you for some drastic turn of events. It doesn’t matter if these predictions come true; the fun is in predicting itself.

What truly keeps you going through some ridiculous patches is the powerhouse that is Viola Davis. After The Woman King, she gets yet another role to flex her muscles and never so before has she single-handedly carried a film with her presence as she does in G20. After her tailor coerces her into wearing painful high-heels, Sutton makes a last-minute call and switches to sneakers. It’s a fun, crowd-pleasing set-up that would work so well only with such an actor who could demonstrate steel so effortlessly. Thanks to Davis, you almost wish for a sequel.

In the film, there’s a TIME magazine cover that proves to be central to who Sutton is; it features her from when she fought in the Iraq War, carrying a wounded child. It’s meant to be a poignant, powerful reminder that Sutton isn’t your regular president. The photo recurs multiple times, adding new meaning to some characters we follow. That this photograph of Sutton seems awkwardly rendered says enough about the film’s disservice to its central wonder woman.

G20 is currently streaming on Prime Video