As a film reviewer, I often bemoan the glut of sequels, remakes, reboots and adaptations that muscle their way onto the marquees of movie theaters across the U.S. because some profit-oriented studio exec knows that old equals gold. Right now there are not one, but two big-budget action movies based on popular spy shows from the 1960s, for cryin’ out loud! Also in theaters right now: American Ultra, a first-run, original, $12-million-dollar spy/action movie; and it’s pretty damn good.
Penned by Max Landis (son of legendary director John), American Ultra reunites stars Jesse Eisenberg and Kristen Stewart, who played summer love interests in another understated genre sleeper, the coming-of-age comedy Adventureland. American Ultra could be seen as its bizarro spiritual sequel in which the two awkward college kids graduate to being twenty-something stoners in love. Despite some anxiety and panic attacks, Mike (Eisenberg) has made a comfortable life for himself, planning the perfect proposal and drawing comics while manning the register at a local convenience store—that is, until a strange woman enters one Tuesday night spouting what sounds like gibberish. The woman turns out to be a CIA agent (Connie Britton) activating Mike’s dormant “Ultra Program” training so that he might defend himself from other Ultras sent to kill him. The film’s first half splits its time between the surprisingly tender and complicated love between Mike and Phoebe (Stewart) and the seemingly incongruous realm of CIA boardrooms and bureaucracy, both of which are depicted in an effectively casual, though no less consequential manner rarely seen in spy thrillers.
It is its tone that really sets the film apart. Not as jokey as the trailers let on, the long-haired stoner/killing machine shtick could’ve quickly gone hacky in less capable hands, but Eisenberg’s incredulity always lands on the right side of believable, extending the life of its one-joke-premise. With Eisenberg and Stewart both breathing life into their characters, the supporting cast of Britton, Topher Grace, Tony Hale, and an extra-creepy Walton Goggins elevate this little genre sleeper even more.
American Ultra is a deceptively charming movie, maybe more than it ought to be, but it is also a very violent movie. With an R rating, the violence is decidedly less cartoonish than its current spy flick counterparts, and in the modern context of daily American mass shootings, there are scenes which can be somewhat disturbing. It could be a testament to the film’s smarts that it is able to Trojan-horse some real-world issues into a seemingly mindless stoner action/comedy, or it could be bad timing. Either way, American Ultra will surprise you.
