Film Preview: American Ultra (2015)

Page Revisions:

(June 7, 2015) Original
(August 16, 2015) New Trailers (#2 & #3) / New Posters (#3-#7) / Page Redesigned

Release Date:

August 21, 2015

Synopsis:

From IMDb: “A stoner – who is in fact a government agent – is marked as a liability and targeted for extermination. But he’s too well-trained and too high for them to handle.”

Poster Rating: D (2) / B / C+ / C- / C (2)

Review: (#1 & #2) These two posters may play up the pot-smoking hippie image, but they don’t tell us anything about the film or why we should even want to see it.

(#3) This design has the psychedelic compulsion that is entirely befitting a film about a stoner sleeper agent. It’s probably the best we can expect from this film. (#4) It’s action heavy and delivers the characters sufficiently, but it’s a tad hollow and vacant. (#5) The angled design is apparently hot overseas, but it’s boring and wasteful when compared to all the other potential designs out there (and even the ones already implemented)

(#6-#7) Trying to go for that zen, Buddhist concept is corny and not particularly effective. These designs play well with the first two character posters and add some needed creativity, but the backgrounds are unnecessarily bland.

Trailer Rating: B- / C+ / C-

Review: (#1) Finding the humor in spy thrillers is difficult. Linking that humor to stoners is even more challenging. Admittedly, there are some very viable moments here, but the trailer struggles to seem more like another lame pot-smoking spoof.

(#2) Once the original concept has a chance to marinate, any subsequent trailers dwindle in creativity and interest. There aren’t many new concepts here and the humor is decidedly weaker.

(#3) Everything that was mildly humorous or borderline inventive was stripped out of the prior trailers leaving a husk of a concept that is taking itself too seriously without offering needed impetus to delve deeper.