'AMERICAN ASSASSIN': Three and a Half Stars (Out of Five)
The new spy thriller based on author Vince Flynn's 2010 novel (of the same name), which is part of a popular spy book series. It stars Dylan O'Brien as a 23-year-old that obsessively wants revenge for the death of his girlfriend, in a terrorist attack, and is recruited by the CIA (as part of their black ops program). He's trained by a Cold War veteran played by Michael Keaton. The movie also costars Taylor Kitsch, Shiva Negar and Sanna Lathan. It was directed by Michael Cuesta (who also helmed 2014's 'KILL THE MESSNEGER') and it was written by Stephen Schiff, Michael Finch, Marshall Herskovitz and director Edward Zwick (who was originally set to direct the film as well). It's gotten mixed reviews from critics, and it's also a mild hit at the Box Office as well. The film starts out promising, but later it becomes pretty routine and forgettable.
Mitch Rapp (O'Brien) lost his parents in a car crash when he was 14. At 23 he's just found happiness again, after proposing to his girlfriend on a beach (and she accepts), but then his new fiancé is murdered in a terrorist attack in front of him (at that same moment). Rapp desperately wants revenge, and he obsessively trains (and plans) for it. The CIA becomes worried about his mental well being though, after tracking him, but instead of detaining Rapp, they recruit him. He's then trained by a Cold War veteran, named Stan Hurley (Keaton), and his first mission is to stop an old trainee of Hurley's (Kitsch), who's a lot like Rapp, from starting another world war in the Middle East.
The opening scene of the movie is really intense, violent and engaging. After that, the origin story of Mitch Rapp is still pretty cool and involving, but then (about half way through the film) it starts to feel really routine and somewhat boring. The action scenes are all still decent, throughout the film, but the story just loses your interest. Still, it could be a decent setup for a spy movie franchise (like they're hoping it is), and I definitely have no problems with Dylan O'Brien or the rest of the cast.
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