Greetings all,
Good news, the computer has been fixed and I can get back to writing reviews (Big shout out to these guys.) So first we’re going to finish our comparison of unintentionally funny films vs intentionally funny films. Last time we looked at Hitman Agent 47, a movie to which I will still defend was just so bad I ended up laughing my ass off. Now with American Ultra, we have a stoner comedy mixed with a spy thriller, but does the combination pay off? (Obviously ignoring it’s terrible box office results.)
Plot Summary - Mike Howell (Jesse Eisenberg) is a stoner clerk living in a small town with his girlfriend Phoebe Larson (Kristen Stewart) and is planning to propose to her. Meanwhile, unknown to Howell, in Langley, Virginia, Victoria Lasseter (Connie Britton) learns that the sole survivor of her failed ultra agent program is set to be eliminated by her rival Adrian Yates (Topher Grace). That agent turns out to be Howell, who is completely unaware of his past. Now, he must rely on skills he didn’t even know he had in order to survive and save himself and Phoebe.
Pros - Jesse and Kristen prove to be a good duo, balancing out his neurosis with her ability to take charge. They work well together and this movie shows it. Topher Grace also does very well as an over ambitious agent throwing everything he can at Howell in order to eliminate him. The rest of the cast does well too. It’s well shot and the action scenes are solid, and most of the jokes work well.
Cons - There’s three side characters that are barely in this film. John Leguizamo is only in this for a few scenes even though he’s actually pretty funny, and two other side characters are basically there to set up one or two jokes, and that’s it. Also, and this isn’t 100% a bad thing, but the plot kind of reminds me heavily of The Bourne Identity. An agent who doesn’t know he’s an agent being hunted by his agency, I know it’s not a totally original thing but still.
Final Score - 8/10
I’m disappointed more people haven’t seen it, and I hope this review gets people going to see it. It isn’t a grand slam, but it’s one I definitely want to see again.
So, in comparison, intentionally funny will usually beat out unintentional, especially if, at the end of the day, it’s still a bad film.
So now let’s turn our attention to one of this weeks new releases, We Are Your Friends.
Plot Summary - Cole Carter (Zac Efron) is a struggling young DJ living with his friends in the san fernando valley. One day, he meets James (Wes Bentley) an older DJ who takes him under his wing. Cole also falls for James’s girlfriend Sophie (Emily Ratajkowski) , and now must balance his dreams, his friends, and the girl he loves.
Pros - The music is the best thing about the film, with the only exception being the song played at the end. Zac Efron also tries his best with the material he’s given, and there are actually a few really good scenes in the film which I don’t want to spoil here but my good they were amazing scenes.
Cons - The film comes off as a bit of a bad mix of two genres: The coming of age story, and the rise to fame story. Both have their strengths and weaknesses, and while they try to do interesting things with this mix, unfortunately it ultimately devolves into the same kind of story you see in both films and it doesn’t always balance. The mix brings out the worst traits in both films, and what’s worst is that the few really good scenes in the beginning and the way they were stylized are not even seen again in the remaining half of the film. It feels like a letdown as it plays you realize you’re not going to be seeing more scenes like them. Ultimately, it’s cliched and doesn’t quite pack the punch that it clearly wants too.
Final Score - 5/10
I struggled with this a bit, I wanted to give it a soft pass for what it tried to do but in the end, it’s a film that for me coasts right down the middle.
I should be seeing No Escape soon, but I also wanted to report that Dope, a film I did a review on when it was in limited release, is finally getting a wide release this weekend, and if you haven’t seen it yet, I encourage it. I know I want to see it again.
If you’re unsure, read my review of it here: http://ryanmovieblogokay.blogspot.ca/2015/07/double-movie-review-terminator.html
Until then, I’ll see you guys at the movies.
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