I’ve been a wrestling fan long enough to know that every hero eventually turns heel. Still, when John Cena — the face of hustle, loyalty and respect — returned to WWE earlier this year with all the charm of a tax auditor and the grin of a man who knows he’s about to break your heart, I wasn’t prepared. Gone are the bright colors, fast run-ins down the ramp and inspirational promos. In their place? Thinly veiled arrogance, targeted verbal assaults and a smug demeanor. This isn’t the Doctor of Thuganomics 2.0. This is John Cena at the end of his career, deciding to go full Hollywood villain.

And no matter how much I hate it, I can’t look away.

I’ve booed. I’ve cheered. I tried to hate it, yet here I am every week waiting to see what he’d say next. So, when I saw Heads of State drop onto Amazon Prime Video, with Cena costarring alongside Idris Elba in what the trailers promised was an over-the-top, globe-trotting action-comedy, you better believe I signed in faster than a steel chair shot in a no-DQ match.

Directed by Ilya Naishuller (the mind behind Hardcore Henry and Nobody), Heads of State is exactly the kind of genre mashup that knows what it is and leans all the way into it. Equal parts espionage spoof and big-budget action flick, it’s like Lethal Weapon for the world diplomacy set, if it was cowritten by the screenwriters of 21 Jump Street and The Expendables.

Heads of State kicks off with a botched joint mission between MI6 and the CIA to capture Russian arms dealer Viktor Gradov (Paddy Considine). The ambush leaves only one survivor — agent Noelle Bisset (Priyanka Chopra Jonas) — while Gradov escapes with access to ECHELON, a powerful surveillance system shared by five of the world’s most powerful nations.

Meanwhile, newly elected U.S. President Will Derringer (John Cena), a former action movie star, heads to a NATO summit aboard Air Force One alongside British Prime Minister Sam Clarke (Idris Elba). But when their plane is attacked and brought down over Belarus, the two leaders are presumed dead and forced to go rogue. With help from Bisset and a CIA officer named Marty (Jack Quaid), they must expose a conspiracy, stop a global collapse and survive long enough to prove the world’s most unexpected duo might be its last hope.

This film just works — really works — because of the chemistry between its leads. Cena and Elba are a match made in buddy-action heaven. Elba brings that world-weary British charm, the kind that makes even the dumbest line sound classy, while Cena leans full tilt into a self-aware, punch-first-ask-later persona. He’s loud, brash and almost cartoonishly violent (even if he never has thrown a real punch or shot a real gun in his life), and somehow, that’s exactly what this movie needs.

The film hits its stride in the second act, when Derringer and Clarke are forced off the grid and must improvise their way across Eastern Europe. This is where the comedy truly shines. Imagine Mission: Impossible — if Ethan Hunt had to room with someone who thinks stealth is optional and volume is a weapon. Derringer charges through every situation like a wrecking ball in a tuxedo, while Clarke favors caution, logic and a firm belief in not getting shot. Their wildly different approaches fuel the film’s funniest moments, and it’s the electric chemistry between Cena and Elba that takes the comedy to its peak.

Of course, Heads of State isn’t flawless. The villain, played by Paddy Considine, is sadly underwritten, even though he chews the scenery like it’s the last day of catering. The plot leans heavily on super villain clichés — double-crosses, encrypted drives unsurvivable moments — but the film’s self-awareness helps soften the blow. It knows it’s silly. It wants to be silly. And it’s hard to fault it for staying in its lane.

The pacing occasionally stutters, especially near the start of the third act, where it seems like everyone’s just waiting for the next explosion or double-cross to cue up. It starts to feel like the movie is repeating itself, as if the writer had a good idea and just wanted to lean into it over and over again. Still, in a movie like this, a little cheese is part of the charm.

And speaking of charm — can we talk about how this is probably one of the best uses of heel Cena outside the squared circle? If you’re a wrestling fan, you know the guy has always had comic timing and physical chops, but Heads of State lets him truly embrace the chaos.

This isn’t a squeaky-clean good guy. This is a guy who tries to be the action movie star first, making a pun second, and only occasionally apologizes (but never sincerely). Elba, for his part, grounds the madness with that effortless cool that’s made him the internet’s unofficial James Bond for years. He gets just as much to do as Cena, and while he plays the straight man most of the time, when he finally goes full action hero? Glorious.

I’m giving Heads of State a confident four out of five stars. It’s loud, over-the-top and way more fun than it has any business being. If you’ve been craving the kind of action movie that remembers how to make you laugh while things explode, this one absolutely delivers.

As for Cena? Maybe this wrestling heel run really is his perfect sendoff — a final act where he’s less superhero and more chaos gremlin with a mischievous smile. Whether he’s cracking skulls or cracking jokes, he’s undeniably in his element. Heads of State had me grinning from start to finish, just like Cena does in the ring, whether he’s loving all over the fans or stomping all over their hearts.