Here's the thing...I do actually still go to the movies, I guess writing about them is a luxury too grand to consider at this point...
American Ultra is one-part Bourne, one-part Half Baked, and one-part Chuck...yes, Chuck, that TV show you probably didn't watch, but should have because at one point Chevy Chase was an evil super-villain and there were Spies Like Us references aplenty!
I like all of these other properties more than I did American Ultra, but...against the rest of the standard Summer Blockbuster fare...it was something different, which helped elevate it beyond itself.
It was a stoner-ish flick, so Jesse Eisenberg and Kristen Stewart fit in perfectly...a bit emo, with a little adventure.
I can't think of a single role that I can say I liked Topher Grace...I take that back...Take Me Home Tonight...but that is more my enjoyment of that flick, than of his part in it. Is he any good? Is my distaste unfounded? I really can't tell...but at the end of the day, I guess I'm just not a fan. That said, I thought his role ion this was simply meh...he was supposed to be the baddie, and I thought he stopped way too short of bringing it proper.So I recommend seeing this flick, if for nothing else, to shake up the monotony of summer big bangs....this film has it share of explosions, gun fights, and some creative hand-to-hand excitement...but it is something different...and it is rated R, so bloodshed and eff-bombs are found around every corner.
That's it...that's all I could muster. It's a shadow of my former self, but its a start? Is it? I don't know.
Maybe I'll be back soon, maybe not.
At least I updated the trailers down below! (Check out the one for The Final Girls....looks amazing!)
Until next time...
The Reel Rhino
American Ultra - 3.5 out of 5 Horns
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PS: UPDATE TO MY FILM-GOING STATS (for those keeping score)
Today is my son's birthday...the year he was born (2009), on today's date, I had been to 125 films AT THE THEATER. That was in my all-time high year of 168...a banner year for me at the movies. This year? In addition to American Ultra, here's my 2015 list...for a whopping 21...oh how times change!Fantastic Four
Mission Impossible: Rouge Nation
Pixels
Ant-Man
Jurassic World
Terminator: Genisys
San Andreas
Tomorrrowland
Furious 7
Avengers: Age of Ultron (2x)
Kingsmen: The Secret Service (2x)It Follows
Hot Tub Time Machine 2
Jupiter Ascending
The Theory of Everything
American Sniper
Birdman
Project Almanac - this was my first movie of 2015...on January 31st!!
The downside is this...I don't go and see "films" anymore...the majority of what you see above is the stuff summer movies are made of. I thank the Lord for Redbox and Netflix!
