Film Review: American Assassin (2017)

The world can change beyond recognition in three years. Such a conclusion might sometimes be drawn based on the filmography of a director, particularly in cases where they revisit the same theme through different genres and, more importantly, present entirely opposing viewpoints. Michael Cuesta, best known for his work in television, might serve as one such example. In 2014, he directed Kill the Messenger, a biographical drama that critiques the so-called "black operations" of American intelligence agencies with extraordinary harshness, suggesting that their tendency to break laws and international agreements in the name of national security is the root of many evils in the U.S. and the wider world. Three years later, Cuesta directed a film not only justifying such illegal activities of America’s Deep State but even implying that, by the logic of “harsh wound requires harsh remedy,” they represent the best possible response to the phenomenon of international terrorism. And, of course, when portrayed as “cool,” black ops become far more palatable for a pitch for a potential action film series. One of the first instalments which was originally envisioned as a possible series was the 2017 film American Assassin.

The film is based on Consent to Kill, the sixth novel in Vince Flynn’s popular series about American intelligence operative Mitch Rapp. At the outset, the titular protagonist, portrayed by Dylan O’Brien, is a young student whose life seems ideal, and who plans to cement his happiness by marrying his longtime sweetheart. However, just as he presents her with an engagement ring, she becomes a victim of a spectacular attack by Islamist terrorists. Young Rapp cannot reconcile himself with the perpetrators going unpunished. Thanks to his inheritance and ample free time, he decides to spend the next few months learning Arabic, tenets of Islam, and various combat skills. His efforts to infiltrate the terrorists by posing as an online jihadist sympathiser nearly cost him his life, and he is saved at the last moment by CIA operatives who had previously planned to take out the same cell. CIA Assistant Director Irene Kennedy (Saana Lathan) is, however, deeply impressed by the young man’s skills and recruits him for “Orion,” a super-secret unit tasked with the blackest, dirtiest, and most delicate missions. After undergoing training under a seasoned but sceptical Cold War veteran, Stan Hurley (Michael Keaton), he is deployed on a mission to track down stolen Russian plutonium suspected of being used by terrorists to build an atomic bomb. The investigation is complicated by Iranian intelligence involvement and terrorists having a former CIA superagent “Ghost” (Taylor Kitsch) among their ranks.

Cuesta’s film does not break new ground, relying unapologetically on the formula for successful action films: a relatively tight plot, dynamically directed and edited action scenes, “exotic” locations like Libya, Turkey, and Rome, and a simplistic division into Good Guys and Bad Guys. The screenplay, written by a large number of authors, is rigidly formulaic, and many of the “surprising” twists will be easily predicted by audiences who have seen the trailer—which, in Hollywood’s increasingly annoying habit, thoroughly spoils the plot. The content of American Assassin offers viewers nothing they haven’t previously seen in films like those of the Jason Bourne series or TV shows like 24; the sole exception is the substitution of Al-Qaeda as supervillain for Iran, an adversary that was becoming far more politically inconvenient for America and Hollywood writers in the late 2010s. On the other hand, the Iranian characters in this film also serve to remind audiences of something Hollywood raged about in the 2000s only to opportunistically ignore in later years: how the attempt to bring the blessings of liberal democracy to Iraq through military invasion caused nothing but senseless bloodshed and became part of the problem instead of a solution. However, such nuances will likely escape most viewers’ attention. Cuesta and the producers invested far more effort into more noticeable content, including material appropriate to the film’s R-rating—such as explicit bloodshed during fiery confrontations and a villain’s lover gratuitously appearing topless. The target audience, primarily male, will probably overlook this, as well as the fact that the protagonist’s traumatic film opening unfolds on a beach, with the protagonist’s unfortunate fiancée being played by English model Charlotte Vega in a skimpy bikini.

For all these reasons, American Assassin cannot be taken too seriously, and the casting does little to elevate it. Dylan O’Brien, previously known only as an adolescent protagonist in young adult sci-fi films like The Maze Runner, is simply too young and thin to be believable as a hardened action hero in the mould of Stallone or Schwarzenegger. While he tries hard (and his efforts in action scenes nearly cost him his life in Maze Runner), he is overshadowed by Keaton, who could perform the role of the cynical veteran with little effort. The most intriguing casting choice is Kitsch, who physically resembles O’Brien and serves not only as a sort of antithesis to the protagonist but also as a warning of what he might become with enough time. Thanks to Kitsch, despite his role being underwritten, American Assassin merits recommendation as one of the more engaging genre entries.

RATING: 6/10 (++)

(Note: The text in the original Croatian version was posted here.)

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