Review of Reviews// American Ultra

1. The Bad, by Rafer Guzman 
http://www.newsday.com/entertainment/movies/american-ultra-review-one-toke-and-a-few-sins-over-the-line-1.10751458
The author of this review made his point very clear and practical, at times making me question my own opinion of the movie. Guzman begins his review with a comparison to another well-known action/stoner movie Pineapple Express. He decides that American Ultra simply does not live up to its potential, even going as far as saying the movie's comedic tone was killed by all of the gruesome violence. Guzman uses the line "American Ultra forgets about its marijuana motif and quickly turns dark," to further explain how this movie gets sidetracked. On top of that, Jesse Eisenberg is said to be miscast. His "twitchy" attitude deems him "too naturally high-strung to play a space-case."

2. The Good, Chris Vogner
http://www.guidelive.com/movie-reviews/2015/08/20/american-ultra
The author of this review praises American Ultra for its strong but unique plot line. While Vogner claims it may follow similar story lines, again bringing up the previous example of Pineapple Express, he furthers his thesis by claiming the movie knows "exactly what it wants to do, and then does it with a blend of brute force and surprising tenderness." Furthermore, Vogner appreciates all of the movie references made in American Ultra, including scenes that are spun-off popular action films like The Terminator, Blade Runner, The Manchurian Candidate, and the Bourne movies. This film is said to work beautifully by making a potentially messy story quite straightforward and easy to follow. Concluding his review, Vogner applauds the costarring roles, saying they were cast perfectly for what the movie was trying to get across.

2. In Rafer's review, he claims "After introducing John Leguizamo as a kooky drug dealer, "American Ultra" forgets about its marijuana motif and quickly turns dark." After seeing this movie in theaters, I have to agree with this point. I was definitely expecting more of a stoner comedy, like Pineapple Express. However, I got much more of an action film with a lot of violence. After the intro, this movie seems to get off track and completely forget about the stoner aspect. I can't say I hated it, but I think the trailer was very misleading. I had been expecting to laugh most of the movie, as opposed to wincing and struggling to hold down my popcorn at times.

In Vogner's review, he says, "Ultra works by making a potentially messy story rather simple, and by using its carnage as an extension of its comedy. It has no interest in piling on plot minutiae. It's too busy getting to the next bit of mayhem." I definitely agree with this statement. Throughout the movie, the action continues to draw viewers in. There are endless scenes of suspense and it definitely left me wondering 'Where the hell is this movie going?' While the plot was easy to follow at the moment, there was really no saying where the twists and turns of the film would take it.

3. In my opinion, the bad review is more convincing, because of how brutally honest it is. It says that this movie is nothing more than a bad spin-off of most other action films. It also claims that the movie get very distracted from its initial comedic stoner theme and really overdoes it with the violence. Knowing how most action movies like that go, I would definitely trust this review. On top of that, looking at the character list isn't very reassuring. Rafer also says that the characters seem miscast. I think that's pretty believable because Jesse Eisenberg is most known for his roles in The Social Network and Rio, both of which are very far from an action story line.


4. I would absolutely include the fact that the movie drifts far from its original stoner comedy plot. The trailer really seems to focus on the drug use while the movie does quite the opposite. I would also explain that there is a lot of violence in this movie. However, I feel that most of the violence was necessary to correctly get the theme of the movie across: a slacker, stoner kid finds out he's a specially engineered government agent that has the ability to kill people with random objects in the room (like a spoon). This movie definitely keeps the viewer's attention and I would say there were very few slow moving or boring parts. I wanted to see how everything worked out, which, of course, it did. While the ending of this movie may have been predictable, there were also many shocking scenes that I was not at all expecting.

Film Intro Survey

1. What is the first movie that really made a strong impression on you?
The first movie I can remember seeing was The Land Before Time. Something about the animated dinosaurs intrigued me as a young child and I can remember begging my mom to put the "dino movie" on. Since then, I have been quite a fan of cartoons and animations.

2. What are 4 of your favorite genres?
Comedy, Dark/Film Noir, Mystery/Thriller, Horror

3. What are 3-4 of your least favorite movies?
Romance, Biography, Sci-Fi, Musical

4. What are your 5 favorite films?
The Sixth Sense, Kill Bill, The Shawshank Redemption, American Beauty, 12 Angry Men

5. List 3 characteristics of what you consider to be a good movie..
I think that a good movie is memorable/perspective-changing, original, and inspiring.

6. What are some of your least favorite movies?
Demon Child, Marley & Me, Jack and Jill, Sharknado

7. List 3 characteristics of a bad movie.
A bad movie is totally predictable, poorly written, and boring/doesn't hold my attention.

8. Favorite Directors?
M Night Shyamalan, Alfred Hitchcock, and Quentin Tarantino are some of my favorites.

9. Who are your favorite actors and actresses?
Joaquin Phoenix, Morgan Freeman, Kevin Spacey, Seth Rogen

10. What are 3 important films for people to see?
The Sound of Music, It's a Beautiful Life, Into the Wild

11. What is your oldest favorite film?
Psycho

12. Whats the best movie you've seen that's been released in the past 2 years?
Interstellar

13. What are the next 5 films on your queue?
Sinister, American Ultra, Boyhood, Amy, Irrational Man