Review:
"American Assassin"
Release Date: Sept. 15, 2017
Rating: R Running Time: 111 minutes American Assassin is Death Wish on the government’s dime. Instead of blowing away street thugs in the name of vengeance, Dylan O’Brien’s Mitch Rapp blows away terrorists in the name of vengeance. All that separates Rapp from Death Wish vigilante Paul Kersey is that the former swiftly lands himself a sweet gig with as a CIA black ops agent that allows him to kill the bad guys in both the name of his murdered fiancée and his country. A franchise kick-starter that’s based on the novel by Vince Flynn, American Assassin is a standard-issue international spy thriller with a “shoot first” mentality, some serviceable actions sequences, a lead in O’Brien whose focus and intensity never wavers, and a nondescript villain in Taylor Kitsch’s “Ghost,” a CIA operative turned mercenary. The only thing going for American Assassin is Michael Keaton. He’s a necessary commanding presence as a prototypical badass mentor in a film that gives O’Brien very little to hang onto beyond killing an entire armies of terrorists of various nationalities. O’Brien feeds off Keaton’s wit, wisdom and toughness as he evolves from a self-trained one-man killing machine operating outside of international law to a highly trained one-man killing machine operating under his CIA handler (a wasted Sanaa Lathan). Rapp ends up being recruited by the CIA after he attempts to takedown the terrorist responsible for the attack that left Rapp’s fiancée dead. Rapp’s fiancée dies in the opening minutes of American Assassin, and writer/director Michael Cuesta doesn’t bat an eye when it comes to staging a horrifying terrorist attack at an island beachside resort. He borrows heavily from the Jason Bourne playbook by keeping American Assassin as grounded as possible while heightening the stakes with every passing second. But the ending feels like it was cribbed from the superior The Sum of All Fears. Still, Cuesta makes us understand and feel Rapp’s thirst for revenge. But Rapp’s so obvious in his efforts to find the mastermind behind the attack that it’s surprising that his cover isn’t blown before he travels overseas to exact his revenge. Regardless, the CIA pairs with him Keaton’s Stan Hurley, and Hurley and his team are tasked with finding Ghost before he can start a war in the Middle East. Ghost’s motives are practically nonexistent, and this results in an over-the-top Kitsch being all bark and no bite as Ghost. Besides, Rapp is the focal point of American Assassin, so you can’t let him get overshadowed by the bad guy as well as his mentor. As this is an origin story for a character who has appeared in more than 10 books, the first act of American Assassin revolves around Rapp’s training while the rest of the film follows the progress he makes during his first field mission. O’Brien acquits himself well during his bloody fights, shootouts, and foot- and car chases. Beyond his flippant demeanor and brash confidence, Rapp doesn’t have much of a personality for O’Brien to expand upon. American Assassin is as much about O’Brien’s fight to make Rapp an intriguing post-9/11 action hero as it about the continuing war on terrorism and its associated costs. Robert Sims Aired: Sept. 14, 2017 Web site: http://www.american-assassin.com |
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