American Ultra
Tags: comedy, murder, violence, flashback, insanity, absurd, satire, romantic, brainwashing, revenge, sadist

Plot synopsis:
Mike Howell (Jesse Eisenberg) is in a holding cell, handcuffed and trembling. A man enters the room while another (Bill Pullman) watches them. Mike sees flashes of the last few days, as well as items such as a bloody spoon, a frying pan, and a shot-up teddy bear.Three days earlier:Mike was living peacefully in the small town of Liman, West Virginia with his girlfriend Phoebe (Kristen Stewart). He's a stoner-slacker and he is head-over-heels in love with Phoebe. Mike planned a surprise trip to Hawaii for the two of them where he hoped to propose to her, but they missed their flight because he was having a panic attack in the bathroom. Mike apologizes to Phoebe repeatedly but she forgives him. En route back they're stopped by the local sheriff, who knows Mike well. He welcomes them back to town in a kind of warning way.Mike returns to his dead-end job as a clerk at the local convenience store. Since business is slow, he kills time by drawing cartoons and rolling joints. Mike draws an ongoing cartoon about a simian astronaut named Apollo Ape.At the CIA Headquarters, Victoria Lasseter (Connie Britton) is going through classified files when her former assistant Petey Douglas (Tony Hale) enters. She then gets a phone call from a disguised voice saying "Tough Guy" is moving in on "Wise Man". She confronts another agent, Adrian Yates (Topher Grace), as they both know this involves Mike and his association with a program that Victoria started, the Ultra Program. Yates wants Mike dead immediately, because he "keeps trying to leave town," and orders Victoria to leave.Mike and Phoebe are sharing a joint at a spot overlooking a street where they see a bunch of cop cars and a tow truck taking a car that crashed into a tree. A very stoned Mike talks about how the tree has just been standing there forever and only just did something by stopping the car. He starts crying because he thinks he's the tree and Phoebe is the car. She comforts him and says that's not the case.The next day, Mike meets his buddy Rose (John Leguizamo) to get fireworks, as he wants to propose to Phoebe using them.Later that night at work, Victoria approaches Mike with a soup cup and a milk bottle, and she speaks in codes. He has no idea what she means, and she leaves frustrated. Mike goes outside to smoke a joint and eat the soup when he sees two guys putting something on the tires of his car. He calls to them, and they approach him with knives. Something in Mike goes off and he quickly reacts by throwing the hot soup in one guy's face before disarming both of them. He stabs the other guy in the neck with a spoon and then shoots both goons dead. Freaked out, he calls Phoebe at work. She rushes over and sees the dead men. They're then both arrested by the sheriff as he arrives on the scene.Yates gets wind of what happened and knows that the codes Victoria said to Mike were meant to activate his skills. He orders two of his own agents, Crane (Monique Ganderton) and Laugher (Walton Goggins) to find Mike and Phoebe at the station, as well as a whole lockdown of the town. Crane opens fire and kills the officers while Laugher goes to kill Mike himself. Mike and Phoebe fight him and lock him in the cell. They run into Crane, who shoots at them, but they escape. The sheriff slows Crane down by cuffing her ankle to a metal chair before she executes him. Mike and Phoebe run, but Crane calls to Mike and throws him a grenade. He catches it and throws it back, blowing up the station and spilling Crane to the ground. He nods to Phoebe and walks over to Crane, and squares off with her. She throws a punch, but he grabs her wrist and breaks it, then slams Crane in the head before breaking her neck.Mike and Phoebe head back to the store where Mike left his car. He freaks out again and they hug each other. The wind blows a bag onto Mike's car, setting off a bomb that the goons from earlier planted on the car.Yates is brought to a truck full of sleeper agents, including Laugher, who survived the explosion at the station. Yates decides to use him and a few others to go after Mike.The two take Phoebe's car to Rose's home where they can be protected. Rose is suspicious when he sees them because the news is making it seem like Mike contracted typhoid from Victoria, and that's why the town is on lockdown.Meanwhile, Victoria comes across the station and sees Crane's corpse sitting outside. She contacts Petey and asks for his help. He sends her a package containing guns and files on Crane and Laugher. Victoria realizes that Yates is using people with mental health problems as part of his program.Yates calls Petey and tells him he knows about the supply package, and threatens to have him killed for treason.Looking over the files, Victoria talks to Petey, who now says he can't help her because he's been told she is committing treason.A few sleeper agents sneak around Rose's home and spread a poisonous gas through the vents. Another agent breaks in and kills Rose and his two buddies while Mike and Phoebe are in the next room. Phoebe tries escaping through the ceiling but falls through as one agent attacks Mike. Mike is exposed to the gas but he rips the mask off the agent, which Phoebe takes. Mike bashes the agent's head in with a weight and slowly slips out of consciousness.Phoebe grabs Mike and takes him outside. She kills the agent that let the gas in and takes an antidote from him, then injects it into Mike. He feels sleepy but Phoebe warns him that he will die if he slips away. Mike then sees flashes of nothing but his time with Phoebe as she pleads with him to wake up. He pukes and is okay but asks Phoebe how she knew what the gas was. She then admits that she is CIA and has been his handler for the last five years. Betrayed, Mike retreats to her car. She runs there with him, and the car is then hit by Laugher, driving in a larger vehicle. The car falls over a bridge. Laugher grabs Phoebe and pours gas all over the car. Victoria shows up and gets Mike out before Laugher lights it up and makes the car explode. He takes Phoebe back to Yates.Victoria takes Mike somewhere safe and tells him that he volunteered at a young age for the Ultra program after getting in and out of trouble a number of times. He was the only successful volunteer, but the program was discontinued after it was discovered it was starting to drive Mike insane. She erased his memories and gave him phobias to prevent him from leaving home (the order to kill him was because he tried to leave town to go to Hawaii). They return to Mike's house where he says he would rather die stoned and smiling in bed. Victoria explains to Mike that Phoebe watched over him during his training and always believed in him. She was only supposed to stay long enough so that Mike was settled in Liman, then return to CIA headquarters for debriefing and go on to her next assignment, but she fell so deeply in love with Mike that she gave everything up to stay with him.Three more agents arrive and shoot at Mike. At the same time, Yates orders Petey to send out a drone to blow up Mike's home, even at the cost of some of his own agents. Victoria kills one using a teddy bear as a silencer. Mike kills another and then finishes the last by bouncing a bullet off a frying pan. Petey cancels the drone strike to spite Yates. He then calls Yates and Victoria's superior, Raymond Krueger (the man watching Mike at the beginning).Yates gets in touch with Mike, who arranges to get Phoebe back at a nearby supermarket. When Yates lets Phoebe talk to Mike to show she's alive and that Yates has her, she tells him that she was the tree all along, and he was the car. But Mike resolves to get her back.At the supermarket, Yates brings Phoebe with a team of assassins. Mike uses the fireworks as he makes his entrance, driving through the store. He takes on all the assassins, killing them with whatever he can get his hands on in the store (a meat cleaver and hammer, for instance). He is left to face Laugher while Yates takes Phoebe with him. She uncuffs herself with a paper clip and punches Yates in the face. He hits her back and yells at her about how Mike will be killed, but she just smiles and flips him off. Victoria then catches Yates and nearly strangles him to death with a cable until Krueger arrives and stops her. Mike almost finishes off Laugher until he slumps over and apologizes, saying he can't control what he does, and that Mike is a better agent than him. Mike lets Laugher go.Mike finds Phoebe and they walk outside together to face SWAT teams and other armed troopers. Mike takes this opportunity to propose to Phoebe. She says yes, but the moment is killed when both of them get tasered.Krueger takes both Yates and Victoria into the woods and reprimands them for letting all the deaths happen as a result of getting Mike activated, including seven civilians; a severe violation. Yates admits to acting without authorization, but insists he took initiative on a program already in place and that Krueger would be thanking him if it was a success. Krueger admits Yates is right about this, but then he shoots and kills him. A frightened Victoria begs for her life, but Krueger coldly tells her she needs to come up with a miracle. Victoria says she already has one: Mike killed 17 "toughguy" assets by himself, proving that Mike is a very valuable asset worth keeping alive.We return to the first scene where Krueger is watching Mike get debriefed.Six months later.Mike and Phoebe are in the Philippines on what appears to be a romantic getaway. Mike leaves Phoebe at the front desk, and she looks into a camera where Victoria and Petey are watching them. Mike gets into an elevator and is taken by two Mandarin gangsters, as planned by Victoria. The main gangster threatens and taunts Mike, but Mike observes what he can get his hands on in the room and he springs into action...As the closing credits begin, a montage of Apollo Ape animations show Mike wiping out all the gangsters and escaping the hotel with Phoebe, where they finally take that long-awaited Hawaiian getaway.

Review: Some of the dialogue landed with a thud and Walton Goggins could've toned it down a bit, but otherwise American ULTRA was a pretty slick little action film.
(Credit to Mr. Moiz)Small-town stoner Mike Howell (Jesse Eisenberg) spends most of his time getting high and writing a graphic novel about a superhero monkey.
I couldn't stop smiling throughout the movie; it was well paced, the character development was good (don't expect anything too deep), the comedy was well timed, and the action was exciting.
When it comes to blending action with comedy, some films hit the mark (Lethal Weapon & Rush Hour) and others, don't (Paul Blart) but when you combine action/suspense with stoner comedy, then what leads is one of the most fun films you'll see this summer.Mike Howell (Jesse Eisenberg) is an everyday small-town stoner, who works a bland job at a market, with the goal of marrying his girlfriend, Phoebe (Kirsten Stewart) but what he doesn't know, is that he's actually an experiment conducted by a CIA agent named Victoria Lasseter (Connie Britton) and that the CIA has put out a hit on him.
and you want to watch his back when he's surrounded by 6 assassins...not that he'd need you.Kirsten Stewart might be known best for her role in Twilight and of course we all know how much those stories mean to single women who spend a lot of time writing fanfictions inspired from a Danielle Steel paperback, but here, she's actually not that bad.
Now Mike and his girlfriend Phoebe Larson (Kristen Stewart) need to escape from a CIA team of assassins."American Ultra" is an overrated imbecile film with a stupid story lost between action and comedy about a Nikita-like CIA program of assassins that is shutdown.
You can totally feel for the pathetic stoner who just wants to propose to his girlfriend but finds himself being attacked by a multitude of agents and executioners.As expected from the trailers, you come ready for some kick-ass action in which the movie does not disappoint but I felt there was a lot of detail lacking at some crucial points in the film.
I enjoyed the action bits, and they tried to keep it pumped up with lots of bullets and blood (spoon kill!), but there were very few funny moments at all.As an action guy, Eisenburg's lackluster fighting style emphasizes the fact that it looks like he has never completed a push-up in his life.
Topher Grace, who played the major antagonist, came off as some sort of nervous-hipster-yuppie-douchebag despite being the head of a major CIA operation.Anyway, if you enjoy getting high and watching movies while eating a whole pizza and tub of ice cream, then this is right up your alley!
It is aesthetically not pleasing and it looks like they shot it in a parking lot over the course of a weekend.I'm not a fan of Kristen Stewart but I consider her a good actress with a broad range of facial expressions and emotions and she delivers in this movie too.
Topher Grace is adequate too but the rest of the cast looks like they prefer to be somewhere else including Connie Britton and the veteran Bill Pullman.There are some actions scenes where the mighty spy kicks some ass but overall the movie fails to produce a satisfying result.Maybe in the hands of a more capable director and a reworked script (written by the son of John Landis) this movie could be better.
It's marketed as the romantic "Pineapple Express" of sorts, boasting the amiable and easily relatable chemistry of Jesse Eisenberg and Kristen Stewart, but cacophonous action sequences and a downright stupid plot prevent any kind of humor or remnants of wit to seep through such a lackluster story.
For once, a stoner film, and potentially its actors and crew, have gotten so taken by their chemical reinforcement that they forgot to say, create, or do anything funny or insightful.We follow Mike Howell (Jesse Eisenberg), a chronic stoner living with his unbelievably patient girlfriend Phoebe Larson (Kristen Stewart).
The two live together and share incredible romance whilst Mike works at a local convenient store.Meanwhile, we focus on a nearby CIA office where Agent Victoria Lasseter (Connie Britton) learns that her workplace rival, Adrian Yates (Topher Grace), has taken over the "Ultra Program," a secret project she once helmed to create agents that operated like normal people but were really just pawns of the CIA.
Grace, an actor I've long-defended for his ability to be goofy, serious, smug, believable, and charismatic, sometimes all in one film, does some strong, over-the-top comedy here, and, despite two solid leads, outshines everyone around him.But at the end of it all, "American Ultra" suffers from the stoner mentality of "who cares, let's do it," resulting in a convoluted film that probably would've been better suited for an "intellectual" conversation with friends and some help than a ninety-six minute film.
The love to this movie was great made it that much real.Kristen Stewart and Jesse Eisenberg had the perfectly weird, awkward vibe that made the relationship of the characters work.
Eisenberg plays Mike Howell, a small-town potsmoker with nothing going on life other than his job at the a local convenience store ad his girlfriend Phoebe (played by Kristen Stewart) who he hopes to marry soon.
Mike and Phoebe are then on the run from the CIA, with the help of Agent Victoria Lasseter (played by Connie Britton) as they fend off against ruthless, gun-totting agents that try to kill them in a violent gun-shooting mayhem.The trailer for this movie almost entirely misleads viewers into thinking this as laugh-out stoner comedy with its use of short comedic one- liners and David Guetta's pop song 'Hey Mama', when this film turns out be dark and extremely violent actioner with just occasional pinches of humor here and there.
There are few hilarious lines of dialogue by Jesse Eisenberg and Topher Grace, and the romantic chemistry between Eisenberg and Kristen Stewart that works surprisingly well enough keep viewers rooting for them at every turn, even though they shared romance in Greg Mottola's 2009 film 'Adventureland'.
The chemistry between Jesse Eisenberg and Kristen Stewart, who've worked together before, is one of the best things American ULTRA has going for it.
I can't believe I'm about to say this, but American Ultra wouldn't have been half as effective if they hadn't put the "sleeper agent" concept in a stoner setting.Jessie Eisenberg stars as Mike, a stoner who suffers from crippling panic attacks whenever he tries to leave town.
The film would've worked much better if it was another non- official body, rather than the CIA, because there were a lot of problems like the CIA ordering drone strikes on US territory that would have been alleviated, and the idea of open war between CIA officials over a difference of policy was a bit much to swallow.At the end of the day, American Ultra's quirky blend of plot points and genres is a surprising success thanks to charming performances and awesome action sequences..
Good supporting performances by Topher Grace, Goggins, and Leguizamo, a great climactic battle in a warehouse with Eisenberg pulling off an impressive long-take action shot, and the soundtrack worked for me.
Staring the Twilight chick (Kristen Stewart), and the Facebook guy (Jesse Einsenberg), American Ultra was directed by Project X director Nima Nourizadeh.I put it on knowing that it wasn't high art so I put my skepticism aside and tried to enjoy the movie.
The only thing that kept me watching was the acting, Jesse Eisenberg's quirky blend of acting was on point, he's convincing as a stoner and scary good in the action scenes.
Kristen Stewart is also very good in the film and did not mailed in like we've seen her do it in the pass ("You nicknamed my daughter after the Lochness monster!" LMAO).So American Ultra is a Pineapple Express type of film but less fun, good action, and a lot more awkward.
hey that's why we watch the movies, right?Anyway once you get over the weirdness of the unveiling story-line which has difficulty flowing you would be entertained by the most unlikely action hero of all in Jesse.Jesse's acting is top of the line and seems a 180 degree turn from Social Network.If there is one reason you should watch this film this should be it..
Now, he must try to use his new abilities to save himself and his girlfriend Phoebe (Kristen Stewart) from getting killed.If there is one thing to take away from this film is that it's fun.
Jesse eisenberg plays mike, the stoner and he does a great job for the role as you see him react to his situation and it is very funny to watch.
Kristen Stewart plays his girlfriend phoebe and this is the best thing I've seen her do, maybe comedy is her fit and her chemistry with eisenberg is great.
When you have a film like American Ultra, you don't go in expecting a solid plot, but you do go in with an expectation of a unique treatment, and that's why this movie falls short.
In the case of the film American Ultra, I feel myself undecided, because on the one hand, its unstable combination of action and "stoner" comedy offers some well implemented fluctuations of tone and slight emotional moments; on the other hand, the unusual combination of genres can't dissimulate the fact that, effectively, we are watching a series of clichés vaguely integrated to a mediocre story whose details might seem new-flanged, even though its structure keeps being stale and predictable.
Jesse Eisenberg brings a competent performance as a "loser" who becomes an invincible secret agent with amnesia, and the same can be said about Topher Grace as the arrogant bureaucrat who isn't afraid of abusing from his governmental power; Connie Britton as the benevolent face of science; Walton Goggins as the obligatory maniac assassin produced by the same secret programme as the main character; and Kristen Stewart as the apathetic girlfriend.
In conclusion, American Ultra doesn't end up being very satisfactory, either as an action film or as a "stoner" comedy.
From the opening this movie basically says, "I am poorly conceived, and lack vision from any perspective of entertainment." American Ultra is a clinic on bad film making.Then characters - not believable, not stylized, not good!
In fact, the unknowing agent in this action-comedy doesn't even have to check-in.Convenient store clerk Mike Howell (Jesse Eisenberg) divides his time up between working, drawing cartoons, and getting high with his girlfriend Phoebe (Kristen Stewart).But when an eager operative (Topher Grace) orders the assassination of project Ultra's last remaining sleeper, Ultra's mastermind (Connie Britton) locates Mike and activates him moments before the cleanup crew arrives.With access to his CIA training, Mike is now equipped to take on the elite killers invading his small town.While the action is certainly rapid fire and somewhat inventive, the film's simplistic plot line fails to find its purpose.
Yes American Ultra has a very simplistic story, but the plot device of a stoner turned agent is just unique enough to provide an entertaining premise.The fact that the film is simple works in its favour.
'AMERICAN ULTRA': Four Stars (Out of Five)Jesse Eisenberg and Kristen Stewart reunite (after formerly pairing in 2009's 'ADVENTURELAND') for this stoner-comedy action flick!
The movie has a lot of cool action scenes, likable characters, some humorous marijuana jokes, and an amusing love story.
American Ultra badly wants you to like it, it badly wants to be cool and hip and in general it badly fails at being either a black comedy, a sufficient action film or in general a good feature length movie and by the time Nima Nourizadeh's (the mastermind behind Project X) film ends, you'll badly be wishing that you could've got your time back.Some strange hybrid of Pineapple Express slacker vibes and Jason Bourne action ticks, American Ultra certainly harbors the possibility of being a decent film but it's mishmash of genres never takes hold and for a film of this ilk, it's worryingly bereft of laughs and wit and its almost as though Nourizadeh knows it and tries to make up for it with a stunningly incompetent array of gore filled action scenes that feel neither warranted nor feature anything we haven't seen before, bar a spoon being used to de-throat a certain bad guy.Front and centre to this ill-conceived and in many ways nasty event is Jesse Eisenberg and Kristen Stewart who not only share a terrible on screen chemistry (which is strange considering their success in Adventureland) that's akin to pairing a plank of wood with a slab of concreate but share in portraying two unlikeable and seen before characters that do little to encourage audience investment.Eisenberg in particular needed his role as Lex Luther in Batman vs Superman to succeed more than ever as his recent diminishing returns have become quite worrying after great feats in both the Social Network and Zombieland and despite the recent The Double offering him a good crack at something interesting, a huge portion of his works of late have been anything but memorable.
The movie's title sounds like a strain of marijuana (and, believe it or not, one with that name was actually created to help market the movie), but "American Ultra" actually refers to Mike Howell (Jesse Eisenberg), a highly skilled agent that the C.I.A. created by using experimental training and mind-altering techniques.
It's a ridiculous, occasionally exciting and somewhat amusing fight for lives, careers and #merica.Basically, "American Ultra" is "Pineapple Express" (or, insert the name of your favorite stoner comedy here) plus 1993's "Point of No Return" (which was based on 1990's "La Femme Nikita), plus "The Bourne" (Saying exactly which one I'm thinking of would spoil part of this movie's plot.).
Kristen Stewart was amazing (probably her best performance in her career), Jessie Eisenberg was awesome as always (big fan of him), the direction was great, the action was fantastic (my second biggest surprise), the story is nice and original, the script was also impressive and a pretty fit romantic story.
This movie comes equipped with a uniquely beautiful story-line which will keep you laughing and on the edge of your seat rooting for the stoner; it's the perfect action, comedy, romantic cluster for anyone to enjoy.Kristen Stewart and Jesse Eisenberg work their roles so beautifully in American Ultra, honestly when I saw these two in the same film I was kind of unsure if it were to be good; I watched it anyway and thankfully I did.
Jesse Eisenberg is the unlikely star in American Ultra, and while he and his leading lady Kristen Stewart do their best, the script isn't enough to make the film more than okay.Mike Howell is a diminutive stoner who, when not working at the local Cash and Carry, spends his time doodling and daydreaming.
Unbelievable and too Complex to be included here, suffice to say this Movie is more True than You would Believe.Therefore, it's not a Laugh a Minute but it does Contain some Black Comedy, but relies more on Ultra-Violence and Super-Style to give the Message Meaning and be Entertaining with a Cartoon Look.Not Everything Works, but Most of it Does, and the Film feels Awkward, Odd, and while it is Slick, Sleek, and Artsy, the Anxiety felt by Jesse Eisenberg's "MiKe" (get it) transfers to the Audience like some kind of "Contact High".Overall, its Pulsating Presentation is part of the Uneasy Charm and will most likely be Enjoyed by its Target Audience, others not in on the "Vibe" will probably Protest its Conceits and won't have a Clue about any of it.Note...The end Credits Cartoon is a hilarious Hoot..
People who love dark humor will find plenty of laughs in this one, and the actors are mostly pretty believable, despite the overall silliness of the story.Some people criticized it for mixing various genres, but I think it's actually one of its strength as the odd mishmash of inspirations and over the top characters gives it a very original vibe and makes it a lot more fun and unpredictable than other recent movies.
This movie is totally underrated.To be honest I gave it a try few years ago (writing this in 2018), but wasn't in the mood for the plot are could read here and there.Eisenberg, Stewart, Leguizamo and Grace embark you to a journey where situations, pace and dialogs are just giving you an excellent time.Definitely worth the 96 minutes of my life..
The film is about stoner, Mike Howell, played by Jesse Eisenberg, as he struggles to understand his newly activated abilities as a sleeper agent as the CIA tries to kill him.
Topher Grace was good as the bad CIA agent who wanted to kill poor conditioned to not know who he really is Jesse, aka Mike Howell.
They just contributed to the predictability.The best part of the movie is the love story and the excellent acting of Jesse Eisenberg and Kristen Stewart..
I'm used to Jesse Eisenberg and Kristen Stewart being in serious, drama films, and it was cool to see them in an action comedy!
American Ultra is a fun movie, with lots of action, romance and Comedy!
Mike Howell (Jesse Eisenburg) and Phoebe Larson (Kristen Stewart) both live a normal life in a small town until Mike is activated and then Some of the CIA try to kill them and there whole lives have changed.I would say that this is a fantastic, awesome fun movie to watch and you should definitely go see it🔥.
American Ultra is directed by Nima Nourizadeh and stars Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart, Topher Grace, Connie Britton, Tony Hale and Bill Pullman.
Well, it may have been that but it was also quite entertaining though not as funny as I thought it would be though that was okay because I liked the drama concerning the romance of the Jesse Eisenberg and Kristen Stewart characters.