American Assassin

A guy motivated by nothing but revenge trains himself past the point of a US Navy Seal or CIA agent in 18 months (how’s that not supposed to be offensive to service members?). Then he gets invited to join the CIA because he has something they’re looking for that apparently no one else has: he REALLY wants to kill terrorists. They send him off to train in the woods with some out-of-shape, past-it Cliven Bundy, Oath Keeper types. These guys somehow make him even better. They turn him into a combination of The Terminator and the Milk Tray man. Sounds like it was written by someone drunk at a trump rally, right? I know what you’re thinking here: “Why have you got to make it political? Can’t you just enjoy the movie?” Well you try watching it and tell me it’s not political, if not a full-on bit of trumpian propaganda! The whole movie is about Iran trying to secure a nuclear weapon in spite of the deal (which is referenced numerous times throughout the film), with the express intention of wiping out Israel (another point absolutely hammered during the movie with some pretty gross, on-the-nose, shock factor language at times). Again, it plays out like one of those adverts the GOP put out during the Iran negotiations. I don’t want to give too much away, but that’s not even the end of those dastardly Iranian’s treachery in the movie! The whole film is essentially a piece of propaganda for America’s post 9-11 foreign policy. For example, Iraq gets brought up but the good old boys of the CIA roll their eyes at the mention of how many people died (half a million, by the way). It’s tough to watch. I think it would be for most people, no matter where you sit politically. Honestly, if you think this review gets too political, watch it - maybe you’ll love the movie, but you’ll see everything I’ve said is right on the money (I’ll do everyone a favour and won’t even touch on the issue of representation in the film). That brings us back to the second question; “can’t you just enjoy it?” Well, no I’m afraid not. This film exists within a very particular time and it’s hard not to get turned off by its politics, morality, far-fetched plot, and gratuitous torture and flag waving. But that’s not even the worst of it. As the title of this review suggests, I found it throughly clichéd and painfully straight forward. That’s unforgivable. I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop; the twist or whatever. No such luck. A Bourne movie this is not. The fact that he has better moves than Jackie Chan, is smoother than James Bond, and with better aim and a higher body count than Robocop removes any semblance of suspense. There is never any feeling that he might potentially fail. He’s a maverick that can do the impossible. That’s made crystal clear from before he’s even recruited and sent away to train in the woods (presumably while watching Fox News and discussing the second amendment) with the survivalists. All that said, the action scenes are pretty cool, so I’ve given it a generous 2 stars.

Great film loved it.

The books aren’t amazing, but this is dross. Couldn’t be further away from any semblance of believability. The lead actor isn’t remotely a suitable candidate. Wooden. Unbelievable. Not remotely passable in the role. Save your money, wait for Netflix or give it a miss. Hopefully if they make another one they’ll skip forward 15 years and use the original authors choice of actor!

Ridiculous story, poorly acted with a very unlikable, uncharismatic main character played by Dylan O'Brien.

A waste a some good actors. The end of the movie is in particuarly poor taste given the horrendous record of the CIA in the affairs of that particular country (among others).

10/10

Very slow and predictable film.

If you’ve ever seen a spy film then you’ve basically seen this, the “twists” are obvious and don’t add to the story, full of cliche lines that were unnecessary, I rented and tbh I still begrudge the price I paid for the entertainment value.

Really good to watch in most respects, however the boat scene coupled with apocalyptic shots were incredibly poor- effects , ridiculous outcome etc. Solid cast and god action until the closing stuff as above. It's almost as though someone else shot/directed edited towards the end?

Very poor overall - story and quality of action. Waste of money and time.