The Upcoming
  • Culture
    • Art
    • Cinema & Tv
      • Movie reviews
      • Film festivals
      • Shows
    • Food & Drinks
      • News & Features
      • Restaurant & bar reviews
      • Interviews & Recipes
    • Literature
    • Music
      • Live music
    • Theatre
  • Fashion & Lifestyle
    • Accessories
    • Beauty
    • News & Features
    • Shopping & Trends
    • Tips & How-tos
    • Fashion weeks
  • What’s On
    • Art exhibitions
    • Theatre shows
  • Tickets
  • Join us
    • Editorial unit
    • Our writers
    • Join the team
    • Join the mailing list
    • Support us
    • Contact us
  • Interviews
  • Competitions
  • Special events
    • Film festivals
      • Berlin
      • Tribeca
      • Sundance London
      • Cannes
      • Locarno
      • Venice
      • London
      • Toronto
    • Fashion weeks
      • London Fashion Week
      • New York Fashion Week
      • Milan Fashion Week
      • Paris Fashion Week
      • Haute Couture
      • London Fashion Week Men’s
  • Facebook

  • Twitter

  • Instagram

  • YouTube

  • RSS

CultureMovie reviews

American Assassin 

American Assassin | Movie review
13 September 2017
Samuel Estebanez
Avatar
Samuel Estebanez
13 September 2017

Movie and show review

Samuel Estebanez

American Assassin

★★★★★

Release date

14th September 2017

Certificate

UPG121518 title=

Links

TwitterFacebookWebsite

Arriving in cinemas this autumn is Michael Cuesta’s American Assassin. It tells the story of Mitch Rapp (Dylan O’Brien) who, after having lost his parents in a fatal car accident at the tender age of 14, and then losing his fiancée-to-be to a terrorist attack years down the line, wishes to seek revenge. He is trained as a CIA assassin, under the leadership of Cold War veteran Stan Hurley (Michael Keaton). They are both assigned to investigate a particularly terrifying mission – vast quantities of plutonium-239 are being produced into a nuclear weapon by Iranian officials – after various random attacks, on both military and civilians, have been occurring. Together, with the help of CIA Deputy Director Irene Kennedy (Sanaa Lathan), they discover a pattern in the violence, which leads them to a joint mission to prevent a mysterious rogue operative (Taylor Kitsch) from beginning a world nuclear war in the Middle East.  

The film is an adaptation of the Mitch Rapp series of thrillers, written by Vince Flynn. Interestingly, the novels by Flynn amount to 15 in total, and this would suggest that CBS are probably hoping that they have a worthwhile franchise on their hands, particularly with the possibility of adapting the books into a full-blown series. However, this would depend on the success of the first instalment.

From the outset, American Assassin uses all the old tricks in the book for any mainstream action thriller movie. We begin in an idyllic setting, where Mitch is proposing to his girlfriend in the sea. She says yes, they celebrate, and Mitch goes off to buy some drinks. Suddenly, a terrorist attack breaks out and Mitch’s girlfriend is shot. The utopian equilibrium at the beginning is unsettled, and the rest of the film is a slippery slope crescendo of ever-more ridiculous action, with an equally slippery script to follow suit.

What also seems quite baffling throughout the picture are the various locations. Particularly, at the end, we see Mitch trying to get rid of the nuclear bomb whilst on a boat. He leaves Rome and traverses some part of the Mediterranean, only to find that pretty much the entire American Navy have come to meet him to diffuse the bomb. The logistics and the geographical inaccuracies of having the American Navy cross the Atlantic Ocean in such little time gives the film an almost laughable element.  

★★★★★

Samuel Estebanez

American Assassin is released nationwide on 14th September 2017. 

Watch the trailer for American Assassin here:

Related Itemsreview

More in Movie reviews

Moxie

★★★★★
Emma Kiely
Read More

Notturno

★★★★★
Mersa Auda
Read More

The Winter Lake

★★★★★
Guy Lambert
Read More

Lucky

★★★★★
Jacob Kennedy
Read More

Justine

★★★★★
Abbie Grundy
Read More

Foster Boy

★★★★★
Jim Compton-Hall
Read More

Crazy About Her

★★★★★
Emma Kiely
Read More

Bigfoot Family

★★★★★
Mersa Auda
Read More

Judas and the Black Messiah

★★★★★
James Humphrey
Read More
Scroll for more
Tap

Movie and show review

Samuel Estebanez

American Assassin

★★★★★

Release date

14th September 2017

Certificate

UPG121518 title=

Links

TwitterFacebookWebsite

  • Popular

  • Latest

  • TOP PICKS

  • Maximo Park – Nature Always Wins
    ★★★★★
    Album review
  • I’m Your Man (Ich bin dein Mensch)
    ★★★★★
    Berlinale
  • Black Bear
    ★★★★★
    Film festivals
  • Your Honor
    ★★★★★
    sky
  • Spotlight: Lauren Everet and Soup Kitchen London, striving for food security and social equality
    Food & Drinks
  • Petite Maman
    ★★★★★
    Berlinale
  • Celebrate International Women’s Day with a Bombay Sapphire Cocktails & Create masterclass
    Food & Drinks
  • Postdata – Twin Flames
    ★★★★★
    Album review
  • Late Night Staring at High Res Pixels
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • Daniel Brühl on his directorial debut Next Door: “It was magical; I didn’t get a ‘no’ from anyone.”
    Berlinale
  • Moxie
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • Souad
    ★★★★★
    Berlinale
  • We (Nous)
    ★★★★★
    Berlinale
  • Bicep at Saatchi Gallery Online
    ★★★★★
    Live music
  • The Winter Lake
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
The Upcoming
Pages
  • Contact us
  • Join mailing list
  • Join us
  • Our London food map
  • Our writers
  • Support us
  • What, when, why

Copyright © 2011-2020 FL Media

The Killers debut new lineup and song featuring Woody Harrelson at Brixton Academy | Live review
The Case for Christ | Movie review