American Assassin: The Verdict

“When it comes to action/adventure films, this one ticks every box”

Continuing with a TL;DR version of my review, just so you know what you’re getting into. And yes, when it comes to action/adventure films, this one does tick every box for a good film. From the moment I saw the trailers this was on my list of possible films to watch this month, and I did try to convince one friend to go with me but he wouldn’t, so when I got the opportunity to try again last night I decided I’d take the opportunity, we’d go get some dinner and watch the film, and I’ve got to say that while dinner was fantastic, the film wasn’t bad at all either!

The Setup

Mitch Rapp (Dylan O’Brien) is on holiday with his girlfriend in Ibiza where he asks her to marry him. He goes to get them drinks to celebrate her accepting his proposal when an Islamic Jihadist terror cell attack the beach, killing dozens of holidaymakers and generally causing carnage. Mitch does all he can to get to his girlfriend, who’s still on the beach, but she’s shot in front of him while calling out for him. He’s also shot, and almost killed, and he does all he can to reach her, only to get there on the verge of death to find that she’s been killed.

The main character, Mitch Rapp, is likeable even if he does do everything associated with a “rule breaking” trope character

We then jump forward eighteen months and find a very different Mitch from the opening of the movie. He’s grown a beard, he’s communicating with a Jihadist cell and he’s trying to get recruited by them. Meanwhile, we see he’s being monitored by someone else, who we’re led to believe are an American agency, most likely the CIA. Mitch manages to get in with the cell, heads to meet him, and is about to free himself and kill the man who killed his girlfriend in revenge when the US Special Forces break in and kill all the terrorists. Irate that he’s been denied his vengeance, Mitch repeatedly stabs the dead body of the terrorist available before he’s taken prisoner by the US Special Forces. However, he’s not been arrested. Instead, after spending 30 days in detention, he’s recruited for a black ops program, due to his lack of military training and yet his ability to blend in with the terrorists and his commitment to getting revenge.

He’s recruited by Deputy Director Irene Kennedy (Sanaa Lathan), who introduces him to Stan Hurley (Michael Keaton), a former US Navy SEAL and cold war veteran who’s one of the best there is at what he does and is building his own anti-terror black ops unit, under the command of Irene Kennedy. After a training process, and the stealing of weapons grade uranium from the Russians, Stan’s team are called into action to track down the uranium and stop a potential world disaster. However, it’s not that simple, as the guy behind the stealing of the uranium, codename “The Ghost”, has a connection to Stan and his team that could put them all in serious danger. The movie therefore asks us the question of whether the new recruit can overcome the old pro and save the day?

The Delivery

Straight from the beginning I’m going to talk about the story. It’s not exactly revolutionary. There’s nothing here that we haven’t seen in movies before, and in fact if anything the plot of the movie is pretty predictable. There’s a story arc involving the main two characters, Stan Hurley and Mitch Rapp, where we see Stan not wanting Mitch as part of his team but growing to appreciate him, and Mitch not wanting to follow orders which angers Stan, only to find that his not following orders becomes the reason that they’re able to save the day, and while Stan promises that nobody will come back for you in you fall in the field, of course Mitch comes back for him and he returns the favour and breaks his own rule as well. So, it’s a rather cliché plot, there’s nothing new in there, and of course the good guys save the day in the end. But… that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

The cast were all very good in their roles, and I really enjoyed Shiva Negar as Annika, along with Dylan O’Brien and the exceptional Michael Keaton

While the plot may not be the most original in the world, it’s extremely well executed and the movie more than holds your attention throughout. While it doesn’t take you on twists and turns where you have no idea what’s going to happen it doesn’t pretend that it is. It doesn’t think it’s cleverer than it actually is, it presents itself as an action movie and it lives up to exactly the way it presented itself. So, if you’re a fan of action movies, and you’re looking for a basic plot with good action, good effects and a compelling enough story to keep you going then American Assassin is, indeed, a good film. It’s by no means a great film, but the plot is good, the way it takes you through the story is more than watchable, and the action sequences are also very watchable.

When it comes to the action sequences, once again there’s nothing that new here, but there are films that give us jump-cut style fights where you have no idea what’s happening because it jumps around so much and you just vaguely get the idea that these two guys are fighting. That isn’t the case here. The fight sequences are at least more watchable than that. We do get the jumps occasionally, from character to character especially, but the fights all tell a story and all add to the overall plot. While there’s not anything necessarily wrong with an over the top action sequence, we don’t get that here due to the covert nature of the team involved, and indeed the one really big sequence we get as a result of that feels “big” for this film, and is pointed out that the characters went too far by blowing their covert nature.

The interaction between the main characters made for the best scenes and made up for the lack of depth in the story

The thing that redeems this film from its generic plot however is the acting involved. There is nobody here who’s badly cast, and the entire cast do superb jobs in their roles. Standout mentions go to Shiva Negar who plays Annika, whom I can’t talk about without adding a ton of spoilers but is very good in her role, but also to Dylan O’Brien and Michael Keaton, who are both very, very good in their roles. This is the second Michael Keaton film of the year for me, after Spider-Man: Homecoming, and I have to say that while this movie isn’t as good as that one, Keaton’s performance here definitely is. He’s truly convincing in his role, he’s got a very commanding presence throughout the film, and he made me feel for his character at every stage. The same is true of O’Brien. His performance in the beginning, as the love-struck guy who’s asking his girlfriend to marry him, sets one scene, and then his performance after her death makes you feel for the character, not to mention he easily looks the part of the American Assassin role.

The acting is truly good here, but the characters unfortunately suffer the same clichéd development as the story. As previously mentioned, the character of Stan starts off as a hard-ass who tells his men that if they fall in the field that nobody is coming back for them, and of course you get the feeling when he says that that it’s going to be a plot point at some stage. It is, and while he’s willing to leave people behind, of course Mitch isn’t, so he breaks the rules, and when Stan is put in trouble, Mitch breaks the rules to save him, leading to Stan breaking his own rule to save Mitch later in the film as well. It’s not exactly the most original bit of character development, but in what is essentially a generic action film it’s about as good a character arc as we could expect. Mitch’s character arc is similar in the cliché department, as the guy who’s angry at the world and disobeys the rules but learns to appreciate the rules as well. His character at least remains consistent throughout, in the sense that the film ends with him once again breaking the rules, but you also get that feeling that he’s breaking the rules for the “right reasons” so it’s “ok” that he does that.

Michael Keaton was the best thing about this film for me. His performance was the best of the bunch

In films like this, which show us that disobeying the rules as they’re presented to us is “ok” is you’re hero who saves the day BECAUSE you’re a rule breaker, I’m never sure how to feel. Obviously films like this require a suspension of disbelief, but this kind of character arc is done so often in films that it’s become a trope of action films that I would like to see movies get away from. There are times when it works, and this is probably one of the cases where I’d say that it works because the character of Mitch is at least likeable. It also has another trope character, that being the female authority figure who’s understanding of the rule breaker… and again while the character is well played by Sanaa Lathan, it’s another cliché that the film could probably have done without. That said, as cliché as the film is at times, it’s still a decent movie.

The Verdict

If you want to know more about the way I rate films, check out my new post explaining exactly that. That can be found by clicking here: The Verdict: Ranking Systems

This film is only “good”. It’d like to put it as “very good”, and I’m almost tempted to put it in that category because of the acting involved and the action sequences, but I just can’t justify that rating. I hope it does decent in the cinema, and if you’ve got a lot of spare time and/or an “Unlimited Movies” style pass to the cinema then I’d recommend this movie to kill your time (I saw it with my Odeon Limitless, and I’m glad I did), but I wouldn’t recommend going out of your way to go to the cinema just to see this film. It is, after all, only a “good” film, however when it comes out in a few months on the rental sources then I’d recommend it as a rental option because it’s definitely watchable, and something to enjoy on a Friday night.

Rating:
Good
Watch It On Rental

Feel free to disagree with me. If you think I’m wrong, and you think this film is better than I’ve said it is, then tell me why you feel that way. I’m on the fence as to just how good the film is, but the predictability of the plot affects it for me. That said, the performance of Michael Keaton was superb, and for me he was the best thing about this film. There’s a scene where he’s been captured and he’s tortured and that’s definitely a good scene made good by his acting. That could so easily have been unwatchable, but Keaton pulls it off brilliantly. And then there’s the ending, which hints at a potential sequel, and I’ve got to say that I wouldn’t be opposed to a sequel if they can come up with a less clichéd plot for the sequel, because the cast has potential to make a very good film, but this just wasn’t it. I hope it makes enough money that the studio are willing to spend out on a sequel with a better story.

If you watch the film, and want to tell me what you thought, feel free to do so. I’m always easy to get hold of on Twitter (@AlexisEbdon) or on Facebook (Facebook.com/ajebdon). Tell me what you thought of the film, whether you agree with my Verdict, and tell me about any other films I should watch. I’m always looking for good films.