This looks nothing like the Adventureland reunion I was expecting, but if the first trailer for American Ultra is truly indicative of the final product, it’ll be a welcome return. A stoner-centered action-comedy seemingly pitched in Pineapple Express key, it features Jesse Eisenberg as Mike, a slacker druggie type whose unknown, long-dormant super-spy capabilities are triggered, sending him and his girlfriend, Phoebe (Kristen Stewart), in action against government forces sent to quell his recently discovered skills.
That’s the rub established by this trailer, which takes a simple-enough concept and, despite a behind-the-camera pedigree that doesn’t do much to excite yours truly — Project X director Nima Nourizadeh and Chronicle scribe Max Landis — sells it with a well-cut mix of strong zings and propulsive images. If that’s the most American Ultra ends up being good for, fine — late-summer wide releases can be as dire as it gets, and something that livens up the multiplex even just a little bit at that time of year is welcome news. And, even six years after Adventureland, an Eisenberg-Stewart pairing is something I’m still anxious to see, regardless of much else, and some change in direction and tone makes for an interesting choice nevertheless.
Watch green- and red-band trailers below (via Yahoo!):
Synopsis:
American Ultra is a fast-paced action comedy about Mike (Eisenberg), a seemingly hapless and unmotivated stoner whose small-town life with his live-in girlfriend, Phoebe (Stewart), is suddenly turned upside down. Unbeknownst to him, Mike is actually a highly trained, lethal sleeper agent. In the blink of an eye, as his secret past comes back to haunt him, Mike is thrust into the middle of a deadly government operation and is forced to summon his inner action-hero in order to survive.
American Ultra opens on August 21.