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Awix (3310 KP) rated American Ultra (2015) in Movies

Sep 3, 2020 (Updated Sep 3, 2020)  
American Ultra (2015)
American Ultra (2015)
2015 | Action, Comedy
6
5.3 (9 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Competent but slightly underwhelming action comedy feels like one of those films which invites an 'it's .... meets ....' kind of description. My attempt would be that it's Clerks colliding with the Bourne Identity, as useless stoner Jesse Eisenberg discovers he is actually a brainwashed CIA assassin in line for termination by his employers. What will his girlfriend Kristen Stewart (yes, he's probably punching above his weight a bit) say?

The basic idea is sort of funny, but for this to work as a comedy it would need considerably better jokes, and while the action is competently staged (gory, though) it's not done with the style or scope to make the film distinctive. Not actually bad - reasonable performances and the script has a solid structure - but not accomplished or entertaining enough to really stand out. As it is, feels like an Edgar Wright pastiche, if there's such a thing, but very pedestrian.
  
Pineapple Express (2008)
Pineapple Express (2008)
2008 | Comedy
The ultimate stoner movie - rivaled only by 𝘛𝘦𝘥 and 𝘏𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘥 & 𝘒𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘳 𝘌𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘦 𝘍𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘎𝘶𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘰 𝘉𝘢𝘺. Just so precisely captures that essence of getting high with your buddies, and then ingeniously represents it through these literal Chaotic Good, Chaotic Neutral, and Chaotic Evil trio of leads - played to (unsurprising) perfection by Franco, Rogen, and McBride respectively. The comedic value earned in each scene by transitioning from shooting the shit about nonsensical high musings abruptly into blunt violence cannot be understated - those fights are so side-splitting. And I'll be damned but the action... actually looks like action! Further proof that these are at their best when made by people who regularly get blazed as hell. Two hours straight of hilarious Rogen and co. histrionics, general destruction and chaos which routinely draw blood, and it ends with a 15 minute long shootout + fistfight combo in a pot farm. Just spectacular, as funny during its low-key moments as it is when it goes off the rails. Naturally, Amber Heard is the only major weak point.