American Ultra

Nima Nourizadeh's American Ultra is a somewhat messy and scattershot action-comedy, but as late summer entertainment, it works well enough.  It has some genuine laughs, a pair of likable lead performances from Jesse Eisenberg and Kristen Stewart, and a surprisingly big heart behind it all.  This is the rare movie that can pull off hyper violent and gory action sequences, and scenes that are sincerely sweet and uplifting.

Eisenberg stars as Mike Howell, a guy in his mid-20s whose life is in a standstill.  He's in a dead end job at a convenience store, and spends a lot of his time getting high with his friends.  He does have a girlfriend whom he genuinely loves named Phoebe (Stewart) and hopes to marry someday soon, and dreams of becoming a cartoonist as he sketches the adventures of an ape superhero in his notepad.  But it almost seems as if fate as it in for the guy, as when Mike tries to take Phoebe on a romantic vacation to Hawaii (where he planned to propose to her), he suffers a mysterious panic attack and they miss the plane.  The next day, when Mike is working his shift at the store, a strange woman (Connie Britton) walks up to his counter, and utters to him what seems to be a series of random words that don't belong together.  Those of you who have not seen the trailers may want to stop reading here, if you want the movie to be a surprise, by the way.

It turns out that Mike used to be part of a top secret government project to create super soldiers who were unnaturally skilled in all forms of combat.  Mike was a successful test subject, but when the project was terminated, his memories were erased so that he could lead a normal life.  When Mike attempted to go to Hawaii with his girlfriend, the government saw him as a flight risk, so now they want to kill him.  The woman who enters the store that night is actually the former head of the program, and the series of words she uttered was actually a secret code to kick-start his memories, and help him remember his fight training.  Now the guy possesses amazing dexterity, agility and physical strength, and he has no idea why.  When he catches two guys trying to mess with his car, he is able to murder them with just a spoon as a weapon.  Now that Mike has been "reactivated" as a super soldier, some shadowy government officials (led by Topher Grace) want him dead, and send their best assassins after him.

So, American Ultra is ultimately a mash up of the Bourne Identity films, and a pot smoking slacker comedy, like Pineapple Express.    It even manages to mix in some elements of a romantic comedy, as the love between Mike and Phoebe plays a big part in the story.  Does the movie, or the combination of genres, always work?  Not really.  But screenwriter Max Landis (Chronicle) makes the characters enjoyably goofy enough, and the movie moves by at such a quick pace that we barely have time to complain.  There are some sly moments of parody regarding action movie cliches, such as when Phoebe points out all the mistakes he made during the movie's first big action scene, with the characters escaping from a police station. ("If the bad guy is in a prison cell with a gun on the floor, and he doesn't notice it, don't point the gun out to him!!") The movie could have used a bit more absurd moments like this, but it still manages to be fun.

I also appreciated the performances, and how nobody seems to notice how insane everything is.  I've always enjoyed comedies more when the actors don't seem to be in on the joke, and that's definitely the case here.  Even when the action heats up, and dead bodies start littering whatever room Mike happens to be in, the movie still manages to remind us not to take this all too seriously with its extremely over the top violence.  This is a loose movie that kind of plays it dumb, but sometimes I'm in the mood for dumb.  It helps that Mike and Phoebe come across as a couple we can get behind.  They're not just running from one action sequence to the next, and get a few nice moments to slow down and talk to each other.  The screen chemistry of Eisenberg and Stewart (who previously worked alongside each other in 2009's underrated Adventureland) go a long way in carrying these characters.

I can see American Ultra getting a cult following over time, as it strikes the right tone of quirkiness and sincerity.  It's certainly nothing great, but in these late days of August where the cinemas generally become a dumping ground for studios, it stand out enough.  It's silly and very gory, but it's also a lot of fun.

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