American Assassin

I may have mentioned in other reviews that espionage/spy films have been a Hollywood mainstay for decades, however since 9/11, they have been produced exponentially. Between "Body of Lies", "November Man", "Kill the Messenger", "Zero Dark Thirty" and the like, these types of films have been made aplenty. So to add to that ever growing list, we have "American Assassin" in the offing.

 

Twenty three-year-old Mitch Rapp (Dylan O'Brien) lost his parents to a tragic car accident at the age of fourteen, and his girlfriend, Katrina (Charlotte Vega) to a terrorist attack just as they were engaged. Seeking revenge, he is enlisted by CIA Deputy Director Irene Kennedy (Sanaa Lathan) as a black ops recruit. Kennedy then assigns Cold War veteran Stan Hurley (Michael Keaton) to train Mitch. Hurley reluctantly accepts the task, but soon together he and Mitch will later on investigate a wave of apparently random attacks on military and civilian targets. The discovery of a pattern in the violence, leads them to a joint mission with a lethal Turkish agent to stop a mysterious operative intent on starting a world war in the Middle East.

 

Others to round out the cast are Shiva Negar as Annika, David Suchet as Director Stansfield, Taylor Kitsch as Ghost, Shahid Ahmed as Adnan Al-Mansur, Yousef Sweid as Khaled, Joost Janssen as American Operator, Trevor White as Dr. Frain, Scott Adkins as Victor and Michael Wildman as Orion Instructor.

 

This was intensely and decisively directed by Michael Cuesta ("L.I.E." '01, "12 and Holding" '05, "Tell Tale" '09, "Roadie" '11, "Second Sight" (TV movie) '13, "Kill the Messenger" '14) plus TV which is based on the novel by Vince Flynn. The way he used the quit editing in conjunction with the photography really emphasized the frenetic feel of the film. Obviously this is familiar territory for this filmmaker, so it probably wasn't as much of a challenge as with other projects. It was effectively written by seasoned writers Stephen Schiff, Michael Finch, Edward Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz. Not only do they have much feature film experience, but TV as well which makes this a chilling storyline. As with Cuesta, all of these writers have dramatic espionage work to their credit which makes them perfect in what they do. What makes this plot work is the fact that Mitch goes in totally confident bent on bringing these terrorists down with decisiveness, determination and without fear. Most recruits usually go in with apprehension and a certain amount of fear, but Mitch looks at it as simply a job--certainly wanting to get the guys that killed his fiancé, but at the same time calculating. And other than a couple of slow spots in script, this was clearly an effective story.

 

If espionage films are your thing, you'll be in film heaven, but even if they aren't, the chemistry between Keaton and O'Brien are intriguing enough to be worth the price of admission. It has a realistic feel, however it's also a great escape popcorn type film as well.

 

Out of 4 Stars: 3.5                                       Rated: R                                    111mins.