American Ultra
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''American Ultra'' is a 2015 American romance spy action comedy film directed by Nima Nourizadeh and written by Max Landis. The film stars Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart, Topher Grace,
Connie Britton Connie Britton (born Constance Elaine Womack; March 6, 1967) is an American actress. Her accolades include nominations for five Primetime Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards. She gained prominence for her roles in the television series ''S ...
,
Walton Goggins Walton Sanders Goggins Jr. (born November 10, 1971) is an American actor. He has starred in various television series, including ''The Shield'' (2002–2008), ''Justified (TV series), Justified'' (2010–2015), ''Vice Principals'' (2016–2017), ...
, John Leguizamo, Bill Pullman and Tony Hale. The story is about a stoner who discovers he was part of a secret government program and is a sleeper agent. It was released on August 21, 2015, by Lionsgate. The film received mixed reviews from critics, with praise for the premise and cast, but criticism that it "fails to live up to its potential". The film underperformed at the box office, earning a worldwide total of $30.3 million against a production budget of $28 million.


Plot

Mike Howell is a stoner who lives in the sleepy town of Liman,
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, where he works as a
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clerk. He is planning to propose to his longtime girlfriend, Phoebe Larson, on a trip to
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. He is unable to board the plane, as he suffers from intense
panic attack Panic attacks are sudden periods of intense fear and Comfort, discomfort that may include palpitations, otherwise defined as a Tachycardia, rapid, Arrhythmia, irregular Heart rate, heartbeat, Hyperhidrosis, sweating, chest pain or discomfort, s ...
s anytime he tries to leave town. He does not understand why Phoebe puts up with him. In Langley, Virginia, CIA Agent Victoria Lasseter receives a coded warning that Mike, the sole survivor of her "Wiseman" Ultra program, is to be eliminated by her rival, Adrian Yates, and his similar "Toughguy" agents. Feeling a duty to protect Mike, Lasseter travels to Liman and "activates" Mike through a series of code words. Mike fails to understand their significance, and she leaves in resigned frustration. Mike finds two Toughguys interfering with his car and is attacked, but his training activates and he kills them using a spoon. He calls Phoebe, who reaches him just as Sheriff Watts arrives. Yates sends two Toughguy operatives, Laugher and Crane, to kill Mike and Phoebe at the sheriff station, but they evade Laugher and kill Crane before escaping to the home of Mike's drug dealer Rose. Mike becomes unnerved by an array of facts he suddenly knows regarding military strategy. He also realizes he has very little memory prior to living in the town with Phoebe, wondering aloud why he never questioned this before. Yates quarantines the town, and puts Lasseter and Mike's pictures on the local news as carriers of an infectious disease. Lasseter convinces her former assistant, Petey Douglas, to air drop her a weapon using a drone. Yates finds out and threatens to charge Petey with treason. Yates orders an attack on Rose's house with Toughguys using a lethal gas. The agents kill Rose and his two guards, Big Harold and Quinzin, before Mike and Phoebe kill the attackers and she rescues Mike from the gas, which she is familiar with. When pressed for answers on her knowledge of the gas, Phoebe reluctantly reveals she was a CIA agent assigned to be Mike's handler, leaving him heartbroken. Laugher ambushes the duo and captures Phoebe. Mike is rescued by Lasseter and insists on returning to his house. She tells him that he volunteered for Wiseman due to his criminal record and subsequently had his memories erased. He also learns that Phoebe was to get him settled in Liman and then leave, but chose to stay because she genuinely fell in love. Lasseter explains that his panic attacks, including his fear of leaving town, were implanted to keep him safe. Yates' army liaison, Otis, joins a Toughguy to attack Mike's house. Mike and Lasseter kill them, prompting Yates to order a drone strike on the entire block. Petey calls off the drone strike at the last minute, then secretly reports the situation to Yates' superior, Raymond Krueger. Mike contacts Yates and arranges to exchange himself for Phoebe at a local grocery store. He attacks the store, killing or incapacitating multiple Toughguys before fighting and defeating Laugher, whom he spares when Mike learns he is a mentally unbalanced man forcibly conscripted by Yates. Phoebe escapes from Yates when Lasseter attacks and attempts to kill him, but Krueger arrives and stops her. Phoebe and Mike leave the store under gunpoint of multiple law enforcement officers. He proposes to her before they are both tasered. In a forested area, Krueger has Yates and Lasseter bound and kneeling. Yates argues that what he was doing would have been okay with Krueger, despite the deaths of innocent people, if the results had been successful, and Krueger agrees. Yates, smugly smiles and stands, but is executed by Krueger for his failure. Krueger admits he informed Lasseter of Yates' plan as a courtesy but did not expect her to intervene. He is about to execute her and also plans to terminate Mike. Lasseter points out that, by taking out seventeen Toughguys, Mike is proof of the success of the Wiseman program and a potentially valuable asset. Six months later, Mike and Phoebe are in
Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...
, confident and happy as they carry out a CIA assignment together.


Cast


Production

Writer Max Landis was inspired by a top secret CIA program from the 1950s code named " MKUltra," which conducted experiments on humans to develop superior agents through various mind control techniques. He wondered what it would be like if an ordinary stoner guy had been subjected to the program. On November 4, 2013, it was announced that Eisenberg and Stewart were on board the project, having previously starred together in the film '' Adventureland''. On March 14, it was announced Goggins had been cast in the film. On April 1, Grace joined the film. On April 14, Pullman and Hale joined the cast. On April 15, it was announced Sharon Stone had been cast in the film; it was later reported Britton would be replacing her.


Filming

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as the ...
began on April 14, 2014, in
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near
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and wrapped in mid-June. Filming in Louisiana presented challenges: the production had to deal with snakes, alligators and torrential rain. Nourizadeh and director of photography Michael Bonvillain emphasized wide shots, and allowed the actors move around the set, with two cameras running to get coverage. The film was shot over a 43-day shooting schedule. The film received tax incentives for filming in Louisiana, and spent $20.4 million in the state and received $6.55 million in tax incentives. The film spent a further $3.3 million in post production in New York, and received $0.9 million in tax credits.


Animation

The "Apollo Ape" artwork was created by John Martel, a self-taught artist from Lake Charles, Louisiana. The promotional poster in the style of a comic book cover was done by artist Jim Evans. The end credits animation was made by Gary Leib. Leib worked on the animation over six months.


Release

In November 2013, IM Global's Apsara Distribution announced that they had acquired the rights to distribute the film in multiple Asian territories. In March 2014, Lionsgate announced their acquisition of the North American rights to the film, for $7 million. In April 2015, Lionsgate set an August 21 release date for the film. The first still and two teaser posters were released on May 14, 2015, by MTV. The red band trailer was released by
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on May 28, 2015. To promote the film at Comic-Con, Lionsgate created a website offering free Marijuana to people with existing prescriptions. The film premiered in Los Angeles, at the Theatre at Ace Hotel. The film was released on August 21, 2015. It is the first film to be released with a DTS:X soundtrack. According to iSpot.TV, Lionsgate spent $12.6 million on television advertising to promote the film. Topher Grace promoted the film by releasing images of his
erect penis An erection (clinically: penile erection or penile tumescence) is a Physiology, physiological phenomenon in which the penis becomes firm, engorged, and enlarged. Penile erection is the result of a complex interaction of psychological, neural, ...
online with the title of the film drawn on the shaft, most notably to his personal
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account.


Reception


Box office

''American Ultra'' grossed $14,439,985 in North America and $15,855,091 in other territories for a worldwide total of $30,295,076, against a budget of $28 million. Industry estimates predicted opening weekend earnings of $7 to $8 million. In its opening weekend, the film grossed $5.5 million, finishing sixth at the box office and third among the week's new releases, behind '' Sinister 2'' ($10.5 million) and '' Hitman: Agent 47'' ($8.3 million). ''Straight Outta Compton'' in its second week retained the #1 position. Landis reacted to the film's poor box office performance in a series of
Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...
messages: In an interview with RedLetterMedia, Landis elaborated on his comments, and further discussed the difficulties of making a film not based on existing intellectual property and what he considered a misleading marketing campaign.


Critical response

''American Ultra'' received mixed reviews from critics. On
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...
, the film has a rating of 43%, based on 176 reviews, with an average rating of 5.40/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "''American Ultra'' has some interesting ideas, but like its stoned protagonist, it's too easily distracted to live up to its true potential." On
Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...
, the film has a score of 50 out of 100, based on 31 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. Audiences surveyed by
CinemaScore CinemaScore is an American market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts from the data. Background Ed Mintz, who ...
gave the film an average grade of "B−" on an A+ to F scale. Mark Kermode of ''
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'' gave the film two out of five stars, stating: "Jesse Eisenberg and Kristen Stewart brave and anarchic mish-mash with lots of violence but few laughs." David Dishman of the '' McAlester News-Capital'' wrote: "''American Ultra'' promoted itself under the slogan, "There is nothing more dangerous than a stoned cold killer," and while they may be right, there's also nothing spectacular about that stoned cold killer's movie." Peter Travers of ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...
'' awarded the film two of four stars: "Soon the movie's twisty charm gives way to gory splatter. Eisenberg and Stewart stay appealing to the last. The movie, not so much." Neil Genzlinger from ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' gave the film a mixed review, ending with: "A lot of it seems familiar, and Mr. Eisenberg and Ms. Stewart aren't stretched much. But Mike finds amusing ways to defend himself using ordinary household items, Walton Goggins and John Leguizamo enliven things in goofy small roles, the plot has a nice twist or two, and your theater is probably air-conditioned." Todd McCarthy of ''
The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...
'' had mixed opinions of the film, calling it uneven and "A genre mash that's mildly amusing until it can't think of anything else to do besides flop around in the deep end of conspicuous gore." He praises the supporting turns from Leguizamo, and Goggins. McCarthy gives particular praise to the animated end credits. Andrea Barker of '' Variety'' welcomed the film: "In a summer film slate awash with reboots, sequels and dutifully box-checking superhero product, it's refreshing to see a genre film made from a completely original screenplay" and praised the "clever ideas, bloody violence so cartoonish that it's almost cuddly, and an eminently likable leading pair" but was critical of the inconsistent tone and didn't feel the end result came together as a whole. Barker concludes, "Only at the end, with completely off-the-wall animated closing credits that embrace the film's latent surreality, do we finally get a glimpse of what ''American Ultra'' has been aching to become." Some critics said the marketing was misleading, and Neil Gunzlinger of ''The New York Times'' described it as "a diverting summer action adventure with occasional laughs, not a diverting stoner comedy with occasional action." Author
Stephen King Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author. Dubbed the "King of Horror", he is widely known for his horror novels and has also explored other genres, among them Thriller (genre), suspense, crime fiction, crime, scienc ...
praised the film, saying: "Saw ''AMERICAN ULTRA'' last night, and loved it. Fresh and exciting, very cool. Can't figure out why it isn't a smash."


See also

* List of films featuring drones * Drug-induced amnesia in popular culture


References


External links

* * * * , {{DEFAULTSORT:American Ultra 2015 films 2015 action comedy films 2015 comedy films 2010s American films 2010s English-language films 2010s spy comedy films American action comedy films American films about cannabis American films with live action and animation American spy comedy films English-language action comedy films Films about computing Films about contract killing in the United States Films about drones Films about mind control Films about security and surveillance Films about the Central Intelligence Agency Films scored by Marcelo Zarvos Films set in Langley, Virginia Films set in West Virginia Films shot in New Orleans Films with screenplays by Max Landis Lionsgate films Stoner films Techno-thriller films