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Saturday, September 7, 2024
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HOLLYWOOD AMERICAN ASSASSIN
EDITOR'S PICK
'American Assassin': A dated pulpy fiction (Review By Troy Ribeiro ;
Rating: **)
A convoluted plot packed with action, "American Assassin" is a confusing spy
thriller.
The narrative begins with Mitch Rapp (Dylan O'Brien), a young man proposing to
his girlfriend Katrina (Charlotte Vega) on an Ibiza beach, when all of a sudden
machine-gun toting terrorist mow down the beach revellers. Katrina is killed and
Mitch is seriously injured. This massacre scene seems to be inspired by the
shootout at a Tunisian Beach in 2015.
Eighteen months later, Mitch on Rhode Island, with a beard et al, is all set to
fight Islamic terrorists. He becomes an expert marksman and a close quarter
combatant determined to take down any and every terrorist.
His plans get a boost when he gets roped into an anti-terrorist CIA Special
Forces group headed by Irene Kennedy (Sanaa Lathan). She ensures that Mitch gets
trained by the best and sends him to a semi-active operative Stan Hurley
(Michael Keaton), who conducts boot camps in the wind-torn wilderness, training
lonely damaged young people into heartless assassins.
How Mitch, along with a fellow agent Annika (Shiva Negar) and Stan, stop one of
the mercenary known as Ghost (Taylor Kitsch) from proceeding in a nuclear bomb
sale then becomes their mission.
The screenplay, adapted from Vince Flynn's eleventh novel of the same name, is
written by five writers and yet they could not salvage the story. Packed with
cinematic liberties, the plot shuttles from places like; Ibiza, Rhode Island,
Tripoli Libya, Roanoke Valley, Virginia, Romania, London, Warsaw Poland,
Istanbul.
The action sequences -- be it the fisticuffs or chase scenes -- are intense and
executed in a staged manner. That makes the entire viewing experience seem gory
and unrealistic.
On the performance front, O'Brien makes for a convincing action hero. As Mitch
Rapp, he is adorable. He comes across as an unfriendly yet concerned colleague
and that's why this self-made assassin seems confusing.
Similarly, Michael Keaton's quizzical glance at the very end leaves you
scratching your head as to why that look. As Stan Hurley, he is undoubtedly
brilliant. He elevates his character with nuances which only he can deliver.
Taylor Kitsch as the bad man Ghost is limited by his on screen time. Shiva Negar
as Annika is agile and brilliant in the action sequences. Sanaa Lathan as Irene
Kenedy is more matronly than a no-nonsense departmental head.
Overall, the film is technically well-mounted and has all the necessary
ingredients to make it Aa pulpy political thriller, but unfortunately it seems,
just too dated to relish it in today's times.
AMERICAN ASSASSIN follows the rise of Mitch Rapp (Dylan O’Brien), a CIA
black ops recruit under the instruction of Cold War veteran Stan Hurley (Michael
Keaton). The pair is then enlisted by CIA Deputy Director Irene Kennedy (Sanaa
Lathan) to investigate a wave of apparently random attacks on both military
and civilian targets. Together the three discover a pattern in the violence
leading them to a joint mission with a lethal Turkish agent (Shiva Negar) to
stop a mysterious operative (Taylor Kitsch) intent on starting a World War in
the Middle East.
