A female US president trying to get everyone to safety when money-hungry terrorists take over the G20 conference; Caitlin Parrish, Erica Weiss, Noah Miller and Logan Miller's screenplay certainly has a few implausible aspects. However, what's certain is that, despite being a bit generic, this is an action-packed and entertaining film in the hands of director Patricia Riggen.
While G20, out now on Prime Video, is a standard action thriller riddled with cliches, it is punchy for its short runtime of 108 minutes thanks to the powerful Viola Davis (Fences) as president Danielle Sutton. Davis revels in a role that should have been hers years ago as she perfectly balances determination, power, emotions, and gentleness. It's great to see a female character that, for once, is not the damsel in distress but also swapping sneakers for heels in fast-paced action scenes, and is a middle-aged woman of colour kicking ass.
On top of that, Sutton is headstrong, confident and not afraid to get her hands dirty. These are perfect character traits for someone coming face-to-face with the enemy: Antony Starr's terrorizing Rutledge. Seeing the strong Davis breathing so much life into a character that otherwise would have felt very one-dimensional is a treat. With an intense performance and creative and innovative murders, Davis ensures you root for her through the feature.
What heightens the likeability of her character is the wonderful family dynamic she has with Anthony Anderson, Marsai Martin and Christopher Farrar. Her on-screen family doesn't have much to work with, though. Anderson is the usual family patriarch, Martin the sassy, rebellious teenage daughter who knows more about tech than anyone else, and Farrar the annoying little brother. However, the writers use the dynamic between everyone to the fullest. Right from that opening scene – which is both deceiving and amusing simultaneously – you'll be invested in Sutton's personal and professional lives.
While most of the supporting characters are either overlooked or underdeveloped – especially Sutton's allies, who could have done with a bit more personality – Ramón Rodríguez (Will Trent) and Starr (The Boys) succeed in making their mark in this film. The former turns in a bad-ass performance with an emotional undertone running through it, while the latter channels his inner Homelander again with a gritty, dark and threatening performance as a fallen soldier and mercenary. Their characters might be as predictable as they come, but the acting is strong enough to pull it off with conviction.
The movie becomes even more credible when Sutton starts to take on the baddies. Despite being former military, the president takes many hits herself. In similar films, the main character avoids every punch and stab, and therefore, the believability of the story and the battles decreases. However, that's not the case with G20 and Sutton goes down many times.
On top of that, when the action does come into play, the set pieces are terrific. Speaking about the action, director Riggen mentioned that she has to build those sets first to film the more emotional and quiet scenes before destroying them with the action. Destroying them is certainly what she did. Whether it's the crafty elevator scenes, the crazy wild ride in Sutton's enormous armoured car The Beast or the kitchen fights, it's all well done from the set design to the stunts and, of course, the cinematography too.
While the formulaic storyline and characters could have done with more work and depth, the strong (in more than one way) Davis and the enjoyable action make G20 worth a Friday evening viewing, nonetheless.
G20 is streaming now on Prime Video
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