G20 (dir. Patricia Riggen)

by Jack Martin | Apr 10, 2025

Certificate: 15

Running Time: 108 mins

UK Distributor: Prime Video

UK Release Date: 10 April 2025

WHO’S IN G20?

Viola Davis, Anthony Anderson, Marsai Martin, Ramón Rodríguez, Antony Starr, Douglas Hodge, Elizabeth Marvel, Sabrina Impacciatore, Gideon Emery, Clark Gregg, Christopher Farrar, John Hoogenakker, MeeWha Alana Lee, Theo Bongani Ndyalvane, Conrad Kemp, Joseph Steven Yang, Emmanuel Castis, Shaleeni Ranchhod, David James, Noxolo Dlamini, Angela Sarafyan

WHO’S BEHIND THE CAMERA?

Patricia Riggen (director), Logan Miller, Noah Miller, Caitlin Parrish and Erica Weiss (writers), Viola Davis, Andrew Lazar and Julius Tennon (producers), Joseph Trapanese (composer), Checco Varese (cinematographer), Doc Crotzer and Emma E. Hickox (editor)

WHAT’S IT ABOUT?

When terrorists hijack a G20 summit, the US President (Davis) must save the day…

WHAT ARE MY THOUGHTS ON G20?

As much as Die Hard remains an exemplary action classic to this day, the number of movies made in its wake that have replicated its core concept but in various different scenarios – whether it’s on an aircraft or in the world’s largest skyscraper or, most relevant in this case, involving a US President – have diminished its impact. Now, it seems, every other action movie is trying to do what Die Hard did but A) not as good, and B) without the charm or even the gravitas of the 1988 original, which has made it a little boring to see a new rip-off like G20, like all the other clones before it, stumble where a nearly 40-year-old movie strutted.

The film, from director Patricia Riggen, is exactly the kind of film you think it is if you’ve ever seen Die Hard or any of its numerous imitators. It hits all the relevant narrative beats, features many of the familiar character archetypes, and in terms of action there’s all the tough gunfire and fistfights you could expect. The only difference, though, is that it has a lead actor who can expertly sell her hero’s gruff McClane-like exterior while still being as compelling as she often is in more prestigious fare, which for a film that goes in all the other expected directions, and not especially doing a great job at that, is worthwhile enough to cling onto.

Viola Davis stars as Danielle Sutton, the recently-elected US President who, with her strong military background but also her inability to keep her teenage daughter Serena (Marsai Martin) from sneaking out of the White House and making the headlines, has earned a divided response in the political spectrum. Her hopes of gaining credibility with her fellow world leaders rest on a G20 summit held at a heavily guarded hotel in Cape Town, South Africa, where she hopes to introduce new legislation to end world hunger, and brings along her family – also including her supportive First Gentleman Derek (Anthony Anderson) – to maintain a solid image.

But of course, in true Die Hard fashion, the event is rudely interrupted by an armed group of private contractors, led by Australian commando Rutledge (Antony Starr), who seek to disrupt the world economy via deepfake technology and cryptocurrency, leaving Sutton and a handful of other delegates – including the bumbling British Prime Minister (Douglas Hodge) – to barely escape and plan how they’re going to save the hostages while taking down Rutledge and his armed goons.

You could practically play Die Hard bingo with this film, given how much G20 is replicating the formula to almost absurd degrees, with the four-person script incorporating so much from that movie, from walkie-talkie conversations between the hero and villain to bringing in the former’s loved ones as a bargaining chip, that it barely feels fresh anymore (and on a side note: between this and A Minecraft Movie, what is it with studios nowadays relying on more than three writers to tell a story that everyone knows almost off by heart?).

None of that, though, factors into the daftness of the actual narrative which gets consistently sillier as it goes along, especially with the extremely elaborate plan that the villains enact which relies on people doing and believing the most idiotic things possible for them to succeed. Even in today’s world where alarmingly authentic-seeming misinformation can spread like wildfire, it’s hard to believe that the human population would be dumb enough to accept at face value damning footage of these captive world leaders that’s clearly been manipulated, to a point where global economies come crashing down harder than a cargo plane carrying nothing but 16-ton weights. Yet, in a universe where it’s impossibly easy for the President’s own daughter to hack into any high-security computer she so desires, it’s par for the course.

If the script relies too much on nonsensical plotting and various other predictable turns (a late reveal about a traitor among the President’s ranks is telegraphed very early on), and if director Riggen can’t quite add a sense of style to her heavily choreographed action that often come with some spotty CGI, it’s Viola Davis who ends up elevating the film with her fiercely dedicated lead performance. Her formidable screen presence lends real weight to an action hero who you’ve certainly seen before in other movies (and not just Die Hard clones), and she easily carries the numerous scenes in which she utilises her physical strength and agility while also adopting the steadfast mannerisms of someone deserving of the Oval Office with believable integrity.

She holds her own opposite actors like Antony Starr, who brings as much steely-eyed menace as he does to Homelander, and an unusually straight-laced Anthony Anderson who, in the obligatory Holly McClane role, gets to show a sterner side than we’re used to seeing from the often comedic actor, but all the while it is Davis you’re most gravitating towards, as she commands the screen even when the film gets almost indefensibly stupid.

Like many of the other Die Hard wannabes, G20 is more than likely to go in one ear and out the other with little to no impact, because why settle for a much more manufactured copy of a reliable original that’s still readily available for consumption? That said, the addition of Viola Davis keeps this otherwise forgettable clone from being an interminable case of been-there-done-that.

SO, TO SUM UP…

G20 is a forgettable retread of familiar tropes from the action classic Die Hard that aren’t done in truly engaging or even intelligent ways, but a committed lead turn by Viola Davis makes it barely worth the watch.