American Ultra Review

Directed by Nima Nourizadeh

Written by Max Landis

Starring Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart, 

Connie Britton, John Leguizamo, 

and Topher Grace

         
Most people will watch this and think “that was weird” or “that was a trip”. The brilliance of American Ultra that it is not merely a trip. Sure, it’s a delirious, comedic action movie that is admittedly “trippy” often. But suprisingly, it maintains a balance between that funny, trippy action/stoner/spy/comedy conglomerate and grounded drama. The latter entails the portrayal of the floundering relationship of Mike and Phoebe, two best friends and lovers languishing in young adult malaise, who also happen to be stoners. That may sound like the typical sappy subplot that is thrown in to almost every action movie— the one that mostly ends up coming across as forced or is ignored in the end. But it totally works. Jesse Eisenberg and Kristen Stewart have some of the most compelling chemistry I’ve seen recently. “Whoa there, Jacob, that’s quite a statement! Surely you aren’t telling me Kristen Stewart can act?”. Hey, come here— I got something to tell you. You’re goddamned right. She is great. She works well, and she has been for some years now. Forget her Twilight missteps. I digress… This balance of batshit dark comedy and tender, meaningful drama is rarely delivered in movies these days. Filmmakers try and often fail. Blending genres is very difficult; American Ultra’s success in this regard is one of its greatest achievements. Despite its self-consciously over-the-top and/or raunchy moments, that balance is seamless. This movie does what other (much loved by myself) action-comedies that subvert their genres (Shoot ‘Em Up, Crank, Kingsman, etc.) did not, which is to be more than the sum of its parts, and it is therefore better than those. I never thought I would say that a film in the same vein as Kingsman is better than it, but it’s happened.

Best Line: Phoebe: Okay, so just lead me through this one more time. Just so I'm clear. 

Mike Howell: Um, I hit him with a spoon and his lungs exploded. 

Rating: 5/5

Reccomendability: 5/5

Legend

5: See it now! (Amazing/Classic)

4: Very good. I would recommend it readily.

3: Good/ inconsistently great..

2: Not good/needlessly squandered potential/terrible but had one great part/etc.

1: Walk away and forget about this one/so goddamned bad it’s awesome.