Viola Davis is back in action in the semi enjoyable "G20"

Academy Award winner Viola Davis brings her talents to Prime Video for the action thriller G20. Patricia Riggen directs the film from a script written by Caitlin Parrish, Erica Weiss, Logan, and Noah Miller.

Davis portrays Danielle Sutton, The current President of the United States, who must implore her unique set of skills when the G20 summit comes under siege from demented terrorist Rutledge (Anthony Starr). The number one target and former military woman quickly understands the assignment after she evades capture by the attackers. Now, she must not only defend her country but also safeguard world leaders and outsmart the enemy by, more importantly, protecting her family, including  First Gentleman Derek Sutton (Anthony Anderson), her daughter Serena (Marsai Martin), and son Demetrius (Christopher Farrar).

G20 starts harmless enough with an introduction to our primary anatomist before introducing us to President Sutton. Kudos to the filmmakers for the fake out they use and the audience initially thinking that President Sutton is worrying about the situation from earlier in the film when, in reality, it's her rebellious daughter. Right away, I liked seeing the Sutton family dynamics. Anthony Anderson is the patriarch who is happy to let his wife lead, while Marsai Martin brings the right amount of sass, and Christopher Farrar does just enough to tape into the annoying little brother template.

We also get to meet Danielle's longtime friend and Treasury Secretary Joanna Worth (Elizabeth Marvel) and her head of the Secret Service and former battle buddy Manny (Ramón Rodríguez), who still tries to train her in martial arts. Once the family arrives at the Summit, the plot kicks off, and we meet a few background characters from around the world who become part of President Sutton's fight for survival.

G20  takes a bit to get started and gives us small flourishes of Sutton's military training on a few baddies, but she never goes full-on Jane Wick. Viola takes her share of hits, which adds a bit of realism to the film. Often, in a movie like this, a character has too much plot armor, which can hinder the viewing experience.

For the most part, I did enjoy G20, but it's not what it's failings. Outside of Anthony Starr's Rutledge, the rest of the baddies are one-dimensional character tropes. In addition, there are Some pacing moments that bring the third act down a notch, and the twist is pedestrian writing 101. Finally, I wish the script had leaned more into the angle of having a melanin woman POTUS with just the little things.

Earlier this month, during the press run for G20, EGOT recipient Viola Davis mentioned sometimes you want to make a movie to have a good time, so sitting down in the press screening for G20, I already had the mindset that this Die Hard retread on a could go one of two ways. That said, G20 knows precisely what kind of movie it is and entertains enough for a recommendation to watch at home.

Final Grade: B-

G20 arrives on Prime Video today.