“American Assassin” is a 2017 action/thriller directed by Michael Cuesta starring Dylan O’Brien, Michael Keaton, Sanaa Lathan, and Taylor Kitsch. It follows Mitch Rapp, (O’Brien), who, while on vacation with his girlfriend, experiences a terrorist attack that results in her death. This terrible loss pushes Rapp on a mission to train and eventually kill the terrorist involved in his her death.
The opening scene immediately sets an emotional tone with Rapp’s character; it shows him in love, a bit of a goofball, and on vacation with the love of his life. Sure, it seems a little cheesy at first, especially because he is vlogging and proposes to her on camera. However, minutes after they get engaged, they are separated for a moment so that Rapp could grab celebration drinks but before he could, there’s gun shots all around, people screaming and running for their lives. It’s not until Mitch finally makes his way to her where we see her killed right in front of him.
The film then cuts to 18 months later, where we see a darker version of Mitch. He’s bulkier, angry, a loner, and has been training himself in martial arts and marksmanship. A terrorist montage plays, and we immediately know what he’s after. He’s even communicates with the terrorist via Internet, convincing him he’s a supporter and wants to join their cause. Rapp’s driven by vengeance. He does his homework and wants his revenge. What he does not know is that the CIA is watching him; that is of course until he is finally face-to-face with his enemy and *spoilers* the CIA interrupts killing his target in the process.
The CIA have been watching him over the past 18 months; they eventually convince him to join their team, finding him to be a good candidate. Mitch is reluctant at first, but he is then taken on a challenging journey to be a better and smarter assassin, finding himself joining a hardcore training led by Stan Hurley, portrayed by Michael Keaton.
Mitch struggles with his judgment and following the rules constantly, but Stan has no patience for it; but they eventually learn from one another when one of Stan’s old students, ‘Ghost,’ portrayed by Taylor Kitsch, comes into the picture who has his own vengeful agenda. Though Ghost is the antagonist in this film, you immediately forget about this character by the film’s ending. It has nothing to do with Kitsch’s performance but mostly to do with the writing for his character.
Overall, Keaton and O’Brien do great throughout the movie—and I must admit, as a fan of Dylan O’Brien’s usual goofier awkward roles, he impressed me as an action star. He really showed how extended his acting talent can go, and the scenes where he was angry, you feel it. The editing in the fight scenes make the sequences more intense; the cinematography showing each hit, not letting the audience miss a thing. There were even scenes where blood would splatter on the camera, which I though was a definite nice touch.
The confrontational journey Rapp and Stan go through as the third act plays out helps you understand them; you feel for the characters more and you see the bond they have formed. The end sequence is satisfying for both the audience and Rapp, and the film serves as an origin story for Rapp, who, according to the book series the film is based off written by Vince Flynn, eventually becomes a terrorist’s worst nightmare and excelling as the CIA’s new weapon. With approximately 20 books written on the character, we can expect more films following Rapp— hopefully with more interesting villains this time around.
*”American Assassin” is available to watch on most streaming platforms.
