American Ultra (2015)

[baumer]

Discuss

[baumer]

American Ultra has its tongue firmly planted in cheek but it's also a very well made and highly entertaining film.  It made be a bit of a parody and a bit of an homage to the Bourne movies (it even has the town they are in named after the director of the first film) but it never takes any shortcuts and it takes the subject matter seriously even if it looks like it doesn't. 

 

The cast in this is absolutely top notch and they all get their chance to shine.  Particularly impressive were the three leads.  Eisneberg and Stewart are incredibly likable and Topher Grace is an asshole to the millionth degree.  I loved hating him.

 

This is a film that might get a lot more noticed once it is on HV and that's too bad.  It's a terrific film and one of my favourite of the year thus far.

 

9/10

[75Live]

I couldn't have said it better

I saw it Thursday and really enjoyed it

It was a lot more serious and a real story to start everything that really got me engaged to the movie. In fact it's actually one of the most romantic movies this year.

I plan on seeing it at least one more time in the theater

At least a B+, maybe A-

Edited August 23, 2015 by 75live

[Gopher]

Not all of it works (Topher in particular went in and out for me) but I enjoyed a lot of it. Seems destined for a long life on Netflix.

baumer's right in that the film takes its stupidity really seriously and it pays off. I thought the scene in the middle with Stewart confrontinh Eisenberg in the car as he's remembering details and wondering if he's a robot was magical. Like something from Upstream Color plucked into a weird genre movie. The movie as a whole feels incredibly romantic and expectedly Eisenberg/Stewart nail it.

Also shoutout to Walton Goggins who has 2-3 scenes that straight-up steal the movie.

[baumer]

Yep Goggins was awesome. Hes really carved out a nice career post The Shield. Another scene I really liked was at the end when Stewart tells Eisenberg that she is the tree and he's the car. It was a really well written romance movie with Jason Bourne stuff thrown in to the mix.

[75Live]

Saw it a second time this morning and I may have liked it even more. I had a better crowd this time so that helped too.

Agree about Goggins, his talk about it must be nice not to have people forcing him what to do was touching and glad Mike didn't shoot him after that.

[Webslinger]

Unlike most offerings from the genre mash-up, American Ultra works better as an action film than it does as a comedy. As a comedy, it's a limp experience whose humor is hit-and-miss, with more instances of the latter than the former. It's also bogged down by its attempts to develop a serious romance between its two leads. Despite strong chemistry between Jesse Eisenberg and Kristen Stewart (which isn't at all surprising considering the lovely connection that they had with one another in the still-criminally-underrated Adventureland), the romance often feels like it belongs in a completely different film. However, when it dips into action, it becomes outlandishly fun. The remarkably bloody action sequences (seriously, I can't think of anything I've seen in a straight action movie this year as graphically violent as the third act here) are executed with panache and prove to be more effective with their moments of dark comedy than the more straightly comedic portions of the film. I can understand why it's picking up its share of supporters and I won't be surprised if it develops a cult following once it reaches home media, but I ultimately found it to be uneven.

 

C+

[MovieGuyKyle17]

American Ultra: You know its a little sad that this movie is bombing at the box office because I think this was pretty good. The film has some really funny moments, fun action scenes, and some serious moments that took me by surprise. The film's cast is also very strong with Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart, Topher Grace, Connie Britton, John Leguizamo, and Tony Hale. Yes, you read that write I said Kristen Stewart was good in this movie. Now, it might be that she became a better actor or its because she's working with Eisenberg who she worked with on Adventureland, but I would be willing to take some of the stuff back, I said about Kristen Stewart's acting ability. This film is definitely not for everybody but if you enjoy the stoner comedy, I think you would enjoy this film.

Grade: B+

[baumer]

Kristen Stewart has been good and pretty much everything she's been in. Just because you guys don't like the Twilight movies doesn't mean she's not a good actress.

[Avatree]

American Ultra has its tongue firmly planted in cheek but it's also a very well made and highly entertaining film.  It made be a bit of a parody and a bit of an homage to the Bourne movies (it even has the town they are in named after the director of the first film) but it never takes any shortcuts and it takes the subject matter seriously even if it looks like it doesn't. 

 

The cast in this is absolutely top notch and they all get their chance to shine.  Particularly impressive were the three leads.  Eisneberg and Stewart are incredibly likable and Topher Grace is an asshole to the millionth degree.  I loved hating him.

 

This is a film that might get a lot more noticed once it is on HV and that's too bad.  It's a terrific film and one of my favourite of the year thus far.

 

9/10

 

I was hoping it would be good.