**This post contains spoilers**
The Story- Mike Howell (Jesse Eisenberg) is a convenience store clerk living in a small town in Virginia with his girlfriend, Phoebe Larson (Kristen Stewart). Mike’s peaceful and ordinary life is upended, when he’s attacked by two unknown assailants.
Mike is targeted and hunted by dangerous operatives, while he’s caught in the middle of a deadly feud between CIA agent Victoria Lasseter (Connie Britton) and her coworker and adversary Adrian Yates (Topher Grace). Phoebe and his drug dealer buddy Rose (John Leguizamo) are Mike’s only allies, but Mike soon learns shocking secrets about himself and the reasons behind the government’s relentless pursuit to eliminate him.
My Thoughts- Jesse Eisenberg plays to his strengths with his familiar quirky and socially awkward persona, and it’s something he always excels at. Mike is a peaceful and carefree pothead. But he’s also a klutz and he’s not too bright at times, so the irony of Mike quickly switching gears to be this lethal and efficient sleeper agent is just hilarious.
The boyfriend/girlfriend chemistry between Eisenberg and Kristen Stewart is fantastic. Mike is a stoner. He’s clumsy, he continuously makes stupid mistakes, but Phoebe never gives up on him. She knows he’s a good person with a big heart, and she’s willing to risk her life to protect him. Stewart and Eisenberg were believable as an unusual couple. Phoebe plays the role of his protector, and it’s easy to buy into the fact that these two are willing to do anything to keep each other safe.
Topher Grace did a good job as a pompous and condescending weasel. Connie Britton’s Victoria is a perfect foil for Grace’s Yates. Victoria is a kind, hard working, and compassionate person. She wants to protect Mike, because she knows he’s innocent. On the opposite side, Yates is a selfish and cold jerk, who climbed the corporate ladder with brown nosing and butt kissing. He sees Mike as a disposable asset. It’s his chance to further advance his career, and the dynamic between Britton and Grace is one of the true highlights here.
The approach on how to use Bill Pullman’s Raymond Krueger throughout the movie really works. Krueger’s appearances are limited, so when he shows up it’s more of a big deal, and you’re not exactly sure what his precise title is. It’s clear he outranks Yates and Victoria, and Pullman brings a commanding presence to Krueger. You firmly know he’s the boss, and Krueger means business, whenever he shows up.
Walton Goggins delivers one of the top performances as Laugher. You can immediately see Laugher is someone who has a few screws loose. Laugher is a top pick for a lot of the good comedic moments, because he’s a pesky and persistent stinker, who keeps coming back to terrorize Mike and Phoebe. Goggins perfectly sells Laugher’s nutty and violent personality, with that crazed look on his face and the constant cackling. He’s Mike’s main adversary in hand to hand combat and Yates’ got to guy throughout the movie, and Goggins truly nailed this character.
As far as John Leguizamo goes, I could’ve done without the N word stuff with Rose. It’s not malicious at all, but Rose definitely leans more towards the cringey side at times. Leguizamo is solid enough as the paranoid and low level drug kingpin, so the N word stuff just felt unnecessary.
Tony Hale deserves credit for a noteworthy performance as Pete Douglas. He’s a nice and genuinely good guy, who turns into a nervous mess, because he’s torn between helping his friend (Victoria) and Yates, who bullies him and threatens his life, if he doesn’t fall in line.
When Mike finds out who he truly is, and Yates is still holding Phoebe hostage, it’s easy to guess how things will play out. Phoebe was actually Mike’s handler, and she wasn’t completely honest with him, so you know he’ll go through the dilemma of wanting to trust her again, because he believes she betrayed him. It all leads to the big showdown at the end, where Mike has to take on the rest of Yates’ Toughguy team and rescue Phoebe. It’s a predictable series of events, but the wild finale still delivers some good action and fight sequences.
They did a good job with the contrast between Yates’ Toughguy sleeper agents and Victoria’s Wiseman sleeper agents. Yates’ agents are cold and more ruthless. On the flip side of that, Mike came from the Wisemam program. He’s someone who’s compassionate. There’s humanity in him, and he’s noticeably different from Laugher, who’s a mindless killing machine following orders. The differences between the Wiseman and Toughguy programs is a reflection of Yates and Victoria’s personalities. It’s a hilarious and ironic twist, with Mike being a stoner and a slacker as the success story over Yates’ supposedly more efficient team with tighter screws.
The final showdown between Mike and Laugher delivered a satisfying brawl. Mike and Laugher were the two star recruits from their respective programs, so it made perfect sense for both guys to be the last men standing. There’s a heartfelt moment, when Laugher admits defeat and admires Mike’s performance and progress. Laugher talks about being broken (Yates used mental patients for his program), and Mike refuses to kill him, because he finally sees Laugher as a human being, who fell into an unfortunate situation.
There’s more irony when Yates is killed by Krueger for his massive blunder. Early on in the movie, Yates threatened Pete with death by execution outside, and that’s exactly how Yates was killed. The only difference is Yates wasn’t shot in “the f****** head,” but he still got what he deserved.
American Ultra has a happy ending. Victoria clearly receives a promotion with Pete by her side. Phoebe and Mike are working together as agents, and they can finally embrace their relationship. Also, it’s cool and unique how they ended the final moments of the movie with Mike’s The Adventures Of Apollo Ape & Chip The Brick cartoon. The success of Mike and Phoebe working together is shown through the cartoon, and it’s truly a fitting ending for this one.
American Ultra is a sharp and fun action comedy with a solid cast. The laughs and humor are consistent, and Mike trying to propose to Phoebe is a big running gag here. Mike is always trying to find the right moment to pop the question throughout the movie, but something always goes wrong. Mike finally gets his chance and Phoebe accepts after the big fight at the end, but the happy moment gets cut short, when Mike and Phoebe are tased by the agents. American Ultra has a strong pulse. There’s never truly a dull moment here, and after so many years, it’s still one of Jesse Eisenberg’s best films.
Rating- 8/10
