Presidential addresses to Congress notwithstanding, the state of the union ain't great when Darius Stone (Ice Cube), a new National Security Agency operative, lands in the nation's capital. It seems a rogue military faction (led by Willem Dafoe) plans to topple the U.S. government, and it's up to Stone and veteran Agent Augustus Gibbons (Samuel L. Jackson) to checkmate the bad guys in this action thriller from director Lee Tamahori.