Last spring’s “Civil War” treated audiences to the spectacle of America finally quelling a MAGA-coded revolt that had split it in two.
The movie’s Trump-like villain played on fears that the defeated president’s comeback bid — at the time building momentum — might actually work. His cowardly, ignominious death at the end offered reassurance that we would soon witness Donald J. Trump’s permanent exit from the political scene.
‘She’s the Mamala of all Mamalas,’ gushes Daily Beast film critic Nick Schager.
Who knew that a scant few months later, reality would hew so literally to fantasy? Unlike his fictional counterpart, of course, Trump survived — and he did so with a stirring display of courage that arguably clinched his victory that November.
Too soon?
By now, the country has more or less accepted Trump 2.0. Yes, there is still a “resistance,” but it lacks energy and focus; all but the most recalcitrant Democrats have started to turn their gaze inward.
Under the circumstances, a movie featuring a Kamala Harris-like president kicking butt and saving the world might be considered in poor taste. In fact, Harris’ campaign was such a disaster that one would expect Amazon Prime to shelve the movie entirely, just as any cinematic depictions of skyscrapers toppling were pulled following 9/11.
Nevertheless, “G20” persists in trying to entertain a weary nation.
Alternate timeline
“G20” began production in January 2024, six months before Harris became the official Democratic candidate. Still, one can’t help but sense a certain confident political prognostication in the setup. If so, the filmmakers were widely off the mark, and now the film must be enjoyed as a bittersweet, Quentin Tarantino-esque exercise in alternate history: What if Orange Hitler had been taken out?
The critics seem to have taken the bait. “She’s the Mamala of all Mamalas,” gushes Daily Beast film critic Nick Schager.
“[Viola Davis is] Kamala Harris via John McClane, John Wick, Rambo, and Harrison Ford’s ‘Air Force One’ leader. … Part ‘Die Hard,’ part wish-fulfillment saga for a post-2024 present that didn’t come to pass, it’s a fantasy of feminist and U.S. might that’s chockablock with implausibilities.”
‘Die Hard’ at a policy summit
“G20” follows President Danielle Sutton attempting to solve world hunger in third-world countries through an ambitious digital currency project. Due to her perceived weakness in diplomatic skills and a rowdy partying daughter running around embarrassing her, Sutton is struggling to get her plans taken seriously.
Attempting to sell the plan at the annual G20 Summit, she finds the event attacked by terrorists looking to enrich themselves through a global cryptocurrency pump-and-dump scheme. Having escaped the attack, Sutton is now locked in the building as the last hope to save the global economy by using her latent skills as a former soldier to fight back and sneak through the massive compound.
In other words, what we have here is indeed another version of Bruce Willis’ John McClane. Not a problem in itself; many perfectly decent movies have emerged from the basic premise: “Under Siege,” “Speed,” “The Rock,” “Run Hide Fight,” as well as the rah-rah pro-Obama actioner “White House Down” — to which this film feels eerily similar.
But like all movies in the genre, what it does with the setup is what sets “G20” apart, especially given that it wears its politics on its sleeve.
Wonk this way
Star Viola Davis (“Woman King,” “Suicide Squad”) has downplayed any overt comparison to Harris in her interviews, stressing that we never find out which party her character belongs to. She’s been content to note with some melancholy that, “I do not think it’s a suspension of disbelief to imagine someone who looks like me as the president,” while stating that she just wants the film “to reach people.”
And yet her president Sutton parallels Kamala Harris to such an extent — from her fashion and haircut to the criticisms she endures — that it’s impossible not to make the comparison. And while it’s a modestly entertaining actioner, the end product feels distracting and flawed.
For an action flick, it spends too much of its precious screen time dialoguing about the global monetary system and the perceived weakness of the dollar. As RogerEbert.com’s Daniel Roberts puts it, “the script is so issues-based that it strangles the film’s mood.”
Wonkiness aside, at its core “G20” is the story of a strong woman of color triumphing over misogyny and racism to earn her place as the most powerful leader in the world. She’s doubted by everybody from the U.K. prime minister to the press, but slowly earns their respect until even her rebellious daughter is calling her a “badass.”
Pure heroine
By the end of the movie, President Sutton can do no wrong. While we’re never told her approval rating, we can only imagine she’s putting up first-term Obama numbers. And so “G20” offers an escapist fantasy for anyone traumatized by Trump’s relentless efforts to make good on his promises.
Remember the old protest sign — “If Hillary won we’d be at brunch right now”? It still holds true. Imagine if the media-generated cult of Kamala had had actual popular support. Instead of immigration and tariffs, our table talk would mostly concern the failure of Republicans to take the first black woman president seriously.
Another round of mimosas! Come to think of it, “G20” may be the scariest horror movie you’ve seen in years.
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