American Assassin is Hard-R Fun
American Assassin isn’t American Sniper, but its cinematic adaptation of the late Vince Flynn’s best-selling series is still a fun one. After losing his fiancée, Mitch Rapp (Dylan O’Brien) goes into “vigilante mode” trying to track the terrorist responsible for her death. He gets picked up by the CIA and trained by Stan Hurley (Michael Keaton) to accomplish covert missions, as weapons grade nuclear material is now in the hands of “Ghost” (Taylor Kitsch), mentored by Hurley, who plans to bombard the Sixth Fleet at sea.
The film isn’t a groundbreaking entry in the action movie genre, but its action sequences are a heck of a lot of fun. The best action scene involve Rapp taking a car down a tunnel to crash into “Ghost”’s guards and blow up the tunnel’s entry. It’s R-Rating is justifiably earned as the blood and carnage comes everywhere, but the precision of the action sequence and its editing has to be applauded. 95% of the action sequences are excitingly kinetic and vibrant that I was enjoying it solely because of its numerous action sequence. The opening massacre is quite gruesome, but well-shot and staged (even though you know exactly where the camera cuts as it tries to be one continuous take) that I definitely enjoyed it and the impact of Mitch’s fiancée’s death was quite emotional. The only truly awful action sequence is the film’s climax, in which Rapp and “Ghost” try to beat the forces of Gravity inside a Yacht. They don’t really fight, but rather tumble and clumsily fall due to the boat rocking big waves. After that, the climax is riddled with faux-danger and horrible-looking CGI that completely throws you off to what the film establishes.
The performances are great, for the most part. I especially loved Michael Keaton as Stan Hurley, mostly during its last act. He plays a cold mentor-figure to Rapp, and isn’t “Mr. Nice Guy”. His performance as a brute was quite good, but it is when he gets Tim Burton’s Batman-style batshit CRAZY (You wanna get nuts? Come on! Let’s get nuts!) on “Ghost” is where his performance completely shines and where you, the audience member, become blessed by the power of the Keaton. O’Brien is also very convincing as Rapp, conveying emotional power in almost every scene he’s in. He’s cold blooded and methodical, which is why the action sequences are so damn fun, because the character of Mitch Rapp is well-rounded and developed. The only character that isn’t interesting is Taylor Kitsch’s “Ghost”. Yes, you can say that he tried to give a compelling performance, but his villainous arc is very “one-note” and him stealing nuclear weapons to blow up SHIPS to cause a war (?) doesn’t really make a whole lot of sense. It’s also great to see David Suchet on the big screen, but I wished he did something instead of looking bored and “astonished” at the camera.
But it doesn’t really matter, because American Assassin still ends up being quite a bit of fun. Its action sequences and mostly fantastic performances elevate its mediocre script to more-than watchable territory, even with its terribly nonsensical ending. If you’re an Hard-R action fan who’s looking for competently shot action sequences and a solid story, this is the film for you. It doesn’t break any new ground, but it doesn’t matter. All that matters is if the film is good, and it is! Thank Jesus for that.
✯✯✯½
