Review of American Ultra (2015) by Jesse O — 15 Aug 2016

This has all the makings of a movie that will gain a sizable cult following in spite of the fact that it didn't make a lot of money, $27 million box office on a $28 million budget. So, yea, you can't really call this film a success.

I think a lot of people place a lot on box office numbers, when that has nothing to do with the actual quality of the film. Scott Pilgrim vs The World was a pretty big flop when it came out, but the people that did see it loved it, myself included.

The funny thing is that a lot of people who shit on the new Ghostbusters remake, without having seen it, probably point at its failure at the box office as validation for their opinions, when those same people probably love movies that have failed at the box office but in that case it's probably that the audience just wasn't ready for that type of movie.

It's funny how that works. Anyway, the point of this is that this movie already has a cult following and I can see why. In all honesty, even with its flaws, I enjoyed this movie quite a bit. The idea itself might not be entirely unique, but I liked how the story itself was presented and the movie does have some pretty interesting ideas.

It also helps when you have Jesse Eisenberg, who's always good. It helps because he's got an everyman quality about him, so you can relate to him, even in these types of roles where he's a stoner that finds out that he's a sleeper CIA agent.

And, you won't believe it, Kristen Stewart was actually pretty solid in this movie as well. She's had good chemistry with Jesse Eisenberg dating back to Adventureland and this movie really is no different.

They feel more like a real couple than Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson in Twilight. And those two were actually a real couple for a number of years. The problem, to me, with Kristen Stewart is that she really has very little natural charisma.

Like there's nothing that draws your attention to her, if you didn't know who she was, there's no way no one would assume she was a famous actress. And there's something dead in her eyes anyway, like she's a robot that's been programmed to act.

And I really do think she's improved as an actress. You can be a competent actor and still have absolutely no charisma whatsoever. They're not mutually exclusive. Still, they have strong chemistry with each other.

The movie isn't based entirely around their chemistry, it's more about Jesse's character being activated and fighting back against the other agents trying to murder him. The major problem with the film is the fact that it's very tonally inconsistent.

There's some real funny moments in the movie, but you're never sure if it's more a comedy, or an action-adventure film with some comedic elements. And, usually, you can make this work, the Indiana Jones franchise is a perfect example of this, but in this movie it feels separate.

Like the comedy feels completely removed from the action and the action feels completely removed from the more 'dramatic' aspects. The best of these types of movies find a way to make it all feel like it's one coherent tone, this one doesn't.

Even with that, though, I found the movie enjoyable. Visually speaking it reminds me of Kick-Ass. It's just got a stylishly violent style. Some of the action also reminds me of Kick-Ass, though it's not nearly as good as that movie in terms of that.

There's this really cool scene in the supermarket that's made to look like it's one continuous shot. It was well-done. As far as character-development, there is some, what with Mike dealing with the fact that all his memories have been planted in his brain and the woman he thinks is his girlfriend was actually his handler when he was being experimented on.

It's not much, but at least it's something. The narrative is decent, at best, it's more the style the film puts forward that helps it more than its story. Don't really have much else to say, this is a very flawed movie indeed, but if you appreciate films like Kick-Ass, then you'd probably like this.

I enjoyed this, it's not for everybody, but I'd recommend it if you have Amazon Prime.