3 out of 5

Directed by: Nima Nourizadeh

In a Red Letter Media-hosted response to their / the general criticism American Ultra received, scriptwriter Max Landis tried to make the point that a good or bad script doesn’t matter as much as the other factors which determine whether or not the film is well-received.  He pivoted a bit around a clear idea, but there were two primary concepts for which he was arguing: that original ideas (as in not based on an existing property, or stocked with recognizable faces) don’t have much of a chance in today’s market, and that a crappy script can sound great with a good reading, a good costume, and good production and vice versa.

I don’t disagree, but only up to a certain point.  And in both cases, I’d say American Ultra passes that point.  Which isn’t to say that it’s a bad movie, or an unenjoyable one.  But there’s a lot wrong with it, and it can’t be isolated to just a poor reaction to a non-Transformers idea, or wonky casting.

To the first aspect: While I believe Landis was more attributing this factor to a film’s potential success… meh.  Yes, being a franchise or a “bankable” name is a more reliable path to success.  Lord knows we’ve all questioned how there can be umpteen sequels of something, but it’s very much due to this.  Moreso, though – and to his credit, Landis touches on this in that review but then gets distracted – it’s marketing, and American Ultra didn’t have much of it.  Because Ultra is, yeah, a darkly comedic, stoner Jason Bourne flick, but that’s hardly an unsell-able concept, and if Insidious 2 wrankled Landis for beating American Ultra’s box-office, bear in mind that Insidious 1 did just fine as an “original idea” as well.  There are other factors of which Max spoke (and I’m cutting short his point) that fall outside of the scope of this review, but it comes down to: if the audience doesn’t know about your film, they won’t go.  And beyond _knowing_ about it, it needs to be notable, which is where some of that franchise stuff definitely comes into play, but just having a good marketing campaign can make up that ground.  Unfortunately, AU is one of those “neither this or that” type films: it tries a bit too hard to be sweet and meaningful; it’s a bit too violent to just be a comedy; it’s a bit too goofy to be a proper action flick.  Your smart guy actor is playing a doofus, and your pretty girl actor is all messy-haired up.  And genderfy me for qualifying the roles in that way, but that’s a separate conversation.

To the second aspect: nothing can save parts of this script.  Landis has a precious streak in him, and that’s hard to tolerate in a lot of flicks, but maybe even moreso when they have a tough-as-nails edge to it like American Ultra.  Jesse Eisenberg’s mumbling love affections for Kristen Stewart are obnoxious.  But… to back-pedal a bit, these affections are indeed made _more_ obnoxious by the actor, who’s dainty acting style simply engenders zero empathy from me.  I recognize this is a personal bias, but I do think both the emotional aspects and humorous aspects of the film could have been elevated with a more “clueless” style of acting instead of Eisenberg’s default “fragile.”  Again, though, the “I love you no matter what” stuff is dumb no matter how it’s presented.  (Yeah yeah, personal bias again, i.e. MY FREAKING REVIEW.)

Is it notable I haven’t mentioned the director?  Right.  Indeed.  American Ultra is a lot of flash, no bang.  It’s well done, it’s clear, but it doesn’t have much personality, hence falling back on identifying it moreso with its scriptwriter.

All this ranting done, note that we’re at three stars here.  I _enjoyed_ the movie.  Topher Grace is hilarious – such an underused actor – and Connie Britton’s motherly role was great casting.  Stewart believably flip-flopped from helpless to informed when necessary.  And to not all-out rag on Jesse, his hapless explanations of the atrocities he’s committed – and his expression-lessness when committing them – definitely work for both giggles and thrills.

But it’s not enough to be a great movie, simply an entertaining one, once it actually gets going.  (Although there are worse crimes than being ‘simply’ entertaining.)

American Ultra is a movie about a stoner who discovers he has codeword-triggered kickass powers.  Stuff explodes.