by:NICOLE TRUGILLO/Editor-in-Chief
One stoner kid will do anything and everything in his power to protect himself and his longtime girlfriend from the evil men who are chasing them.
But the real question is why are they chasing them?
If you’re into action-packed, blood, and gore movies, then “American Ultra” is right up your alley.
I know you must be thinking that this movie sounds like a regular action movie and its clichés, so why even bother? Wrong. I thought the same thing for the same reasons. I even thought it was going to be super dull, since Kirsten Stewart is part of the cast. I like Kirsten Stewart in the “Twilight” Saga, but everything else after that hasn’t done her justice until now.
The movie starts with Mike Howell (Jesse Eisenberg) narrating to the audience how he plans to propose to his longtime girlfriend, Phoebe Larson (Kristen Stewart). He tries to find the right moment, but fails miserably time and time again. They both plan to fly to Hawaii, but Mike suffers from severe panic attacks, so the couple doesn’t end up going.
After the failed attempt, the screen cuts to a scene where a FBI agent named Victoria Lasseter (Connie Britton) learns that her failed Ultra program survivor plans to be eliminated by her archenemy, Adrian Yates (Topher Grace). Adrain plans to send agents after Mike, but Victoria feels she needs to protect Mike, since he has done nothing wrong.
Victoria flies to Liman, West Virgina (where Mike and Phoebe live) and finds Mike at his job where he works as a clerk in a convenience store. Victoria “activates” Mike through a series of code words. Mike, being stoned, thinks she’s crazy and brushes it off, making Victoria leave with frustration.
The same night, Mike sees a couple of Adrian’s agents plant a bomb under his car. He goes out of the store to investigate and he sees the men coming after him. Mike then uses his trained ability to fight off the men and kill them. He calls Phoebe, freaking out, and she meets him at the store. The police show up, and the couple is arrested for the murders.
Adrian sends two more agents, Laugher (Walton Goggins) and Crane (Monique Ganderton), to finish the job at the police station. They fail miserably after Mike and Phoebe escape. The couple goes to the house of one of Mike’s drug-dealing friends who agrees to hide them and keep them save. Things continue to go bad after Adrian sends more agents to kill off Mike.
Mike fights one of the agents, and he and Phoebe escape the house. When Mike asks Phoebe hypothetically what is going on with his life, Phoebe has shocking news that leaves Mike unhappy.
Later, Phoebe is captured by Laugher, and Mike is found by Victoria, who explains to him he was part of the Ultra Program because he had a horrible criminal record. But he doesn’t remember any of it because his memory was erased when the program was shut down. Mike then makes the decision to rescue Phoebe and take down Adrian and his agents.
“American Ultra” was released on Aug. 21. and it wasn’t a horrible movie. It had a somewhat interesting plot, but it’s not good enough for me to watch it again. “American Ultra” is one of those movies I can only see one time.
Stewart was surprisingly good with her co-star, Eisenberg. Stewart is known not to show any emotion, and this movie really suits her because she showed just enough emotion. She didn’t come off as fake when portraying the girlfriend, so that’s one thing I liked about this movie.
I felt Stewart wasn’t playing a role. She was actually portraying herself through Phoebe, and I really take an interest in that.
Even though there were great action scenes and funny moments at times, the film did have some boring parts. I would catch myself yawning at times and checking how many minutes I had left during the movie.
“American Ultra” isn’t the best movie I’ve seen all year, but it’s definitely not the worst. I suggest this movie to someone who is bored and wants to stay in and watch a movie. It’s not a must-see, but you should definitely give it a shot.
I give this film 3 out of 5 stars.
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