Movie Review: American Assassin

I finally saw American Assassin on Sunday and it was a good movie. I haven't read the book that this is based on but I know that there were changes made to update the story. As an action movie fan, I enjoyed watching it. The movie is a fast-paced, action adventure that follows Mitch Rapp (Dylan O'Brien) who was initially seeking revenge against terrorists for the death of his fiancée Katrina (Charlotte Vega) but his one man crusade got him unexpectedly recruited into the CIA by Deputy Director Irene Kennedy (Sanaa Lathan).

He had already trained himself in how to fight but he needed more training and discipline. To get the additional training that he needed, Director Kennedy sent Mitch to Stan Hurley (Michael Keaton), a gritty, tough as nails veteran who put him through a grueling training program.

Mitch was going to need every bit of his training while continuing to trust his instincts when Director Kennedy tasked Hurley and his select team with tracking down a rogue operative known as Ghost (Taylor Kitsch). They received assistance from Annika (Sheva Negar), a Turkish agent but it was a globe trotting major upheaval trying to track down Ghost who was leaving death and destruction wherever he went.

This had a very interesting story to go with along with all the action and I thought Mitch although extremely intelligent, self-motivated and skilled was a very flawed character. Rationality seemed to have flown out the window sometime ago with revenge fueling his desire to hurt people he believes needs to be stopped. Mitch had a lot of bad things happen in his life resulting in him having quite a few issues that he needs to work through which includes being extremely stubborn and angry.

I liked Annika and they play up the mysteriousness around her but also at the same time letting the audience get to know more about her. Ghost was pretty out there, he had a plan and no one was going to stop him from going through with it.

I hope there will be a sequel, because at the end of the movie Mitch seems like he's in a better state of mind and appeared more relaxed and ready to let go of some of that anger. But he still had that same rebellious and determined streak along with a new hair cut. Also if there's a sequel, I would like to see if Director Kennedy will go out into the field. I know someone as high up the executive food chain as her is most likely not taking field assignments but I would like to see if she still had all her training. I definitely want to see more of Stan Hurley, he's so unpredictable and possibly even a little insane.

Something I loved about this movie was that it was actually filmed on location and there is a lot of beautiful scenery featured throughout. As much as I enjoyed the movie, I do wish the pacing had slowed down in a few scenes but overall this is a movie I enjoyed and could see watching again.

Please note that this is an R rated film and there is a lot of violence, some gory scenes and one scene that featured brief nudity.