American Ultra

Jesse Eisenberg is Mike Howell, a socially awkward young adult with a beautiful girlfriend Phoebe (Kristen Stewart) who loves him dearly no matter how many times his handicaps get in the way. He wants to pop the question and take her on a trip, but every time he tries to leave town, he panics. It turns out Mike was the test subject for a CIA programming initiative, who had his memories erased and returned to a normal life after the program was shut down. His attempts to leave town have attracted the attention of CIA upstart Adrian Yates (Topher Grace) who is authorizing his own operation to have Howell eliminated. Victoria Lasseter (Connie Britton), the director of the program, catches wind of the operation, finds Mike, and reactivates his subconscious training, giving him the skills to fight back as his entire life is turned upside down.

Mike and Phoebe run for their lives around town, fighting off the other assets from the program who are trying to kill them. Eventually it's revealed that Phoebe was his handler. At first, he's distraught by this, but later learns that while she was initially supposed to get him acclimated back into a normal life, she chose to stay behind because she loved him.

For an action comedy, there are very few laugh out loud moments until the final 30-45 minutes of the movie, although there's enough to keep you smiling throughout. The action, on the other hand, is fantastic, alternating between hand-to-hand, gunplay, unlikely weapons, and plenty of explosions and fireworks.

Mike is pretty relatable as an awkward guy dating a girl way out of his league, and is so grateful to have her in his life no matter how many times he screws up. His reaction to the situation he finds himself in is believable too, and any person would freak out in pretty much the same way. Topher Grace pulls off the bad guy role a lot better than he did in Spider-Man 3. He's someone in a position of authority who really shouldn't be there, and his character is a prime example of what's wrong with covert operations today. He authorized his own operation so he could pull it off and impress the higher ups. There was no imminent threat or greater good justification. No probable cause or due process, and it's very satisfying when he gets its comeuppance.

The real strength of this movie is that it actually made me like Kristen Stewart. She's amiable, funny, emotive, and gets to kick ass a few times. It just goes to show what she's capable of with good writing and directing.

One other character that stood out for me is the local sheriff played by Stuart Greer. Dialogue makes it clear that Howell had some trouble with the law both before and after his programming (before due to delinquency, after probably due to his panic attacks and pot smoking). He's all too familiar with Mike and seems to take pleasure in putting him behind bars when the opportunity presents itself. However, when Yates' henchmen shoot up the jail trying to get to Howell, he puts his own life on the line to make sure Mike and Phoebe can get out safely.

American Ultra is an enjoyable movie. The subject matter is a bit more complex than it appears to be, making light of a real (and fairly unnerving) CIA experiment involving mind control. Whether or not it was trying to make a point, it's a lot of fun no matter your mindset.