American Assassin

Only good thing to say was the production values. Keaton cashed in on a film beneath him. Hollywood wasted another book which could easily have been scripted far better, and been the basis of sequels.

Apparently all that is needed to find an international terrorist cell is hang around outside their bank. And then allow a hormone driven nearly man to punch anyone he wants and they spill the beans. Pathetic

Another grown up not going to the cinema for a while now. There is little else to add.

You have your average whiners on here complaining because it wasn't like the book. But this is a solid action flick.

Books are NOT movies. This needs to be said over and over, because there is always a cabal of complainers who hate any movie that doesn't faithfully follow its hardcover source. I haven't read Vince Flynn's American Assassin, and I don't intend to. But I feel fairly confident that he wasn't writing a movie. American Assassin (the movie) is a film-telling of the original story; it is NOT the original story, and it doesn't pretend to be. (Memo to Vince Flynn fanatics: Don't go see it.) American Assassin is a terrific watch, if for no other reason than seeing Dylan O'Brien nail it. And he is well aided by his supporting cast, most especially Michael Keaton, Taylor Kitsch and Saana Lathan. (I would like to have included Shiva Negar, but her character is severely compromised by problematic writing. She did the best she could with what she was given.) The script is larded with clichés, but for the most part the actors make good use of them. Director Michael Cuesta keeps it all moving right along. Most of the characters are very thinly drawn, leaving the actors to flesh them out as best they can. The special effects range from absent entirely to overdone. The script itself lurches from event to event, with an ending that goes beyond credulity. None of this matters. Dylan O'Brien is on screen ninety percent of the time, and his character is spot on. He is totally in command, and his charisma is entirely in charge. For a movie such as American Assassin, that's what it is all about.

After reading a few of the negative comments, I was apprehensive about seeing this movie. Glad I trusted my instincts and the previews. Let me make this very simple, as most other reviewers already provide you with a movie synopsis. If you enjoy movies like Die Hard, Jason Bourne, John Wick, Taken, etc. - you'll enjoy this movie. I do enjoy those movies, and I did enjoy this movie. It is exactly what it sets out to be, an entertaining action flick.

This movie has been sitting on my unwatched shelf for quite a while and yesterday I finally got around to watch it.

I actually found this movie to be not too bad actually. It is far from a cinematic masterpiece but it is a pretty solid action/revenge movie. Dylan O'Brien is, unfortunately, pretty meh as the main character. Michael Keaton on the other hand is quite good in his character.

It is a reasonably action filled movie and I really like that they didn't try to turn it into some PG-13 crap. It is sometimes fairly brutal. The story is okay. It works. It is not overly complex and some people are probably moaning about it not being original enough. Well, I say, so what? It is a good concept so why screw with it? I do like revenge movies and although this one is far from the best, it is not at all shabby.

I wonder why some people seems to be claiming that this movie is just crap, one star out of ten and so on and so forth? Is it maybe because it dares bring up the subject of Islamist fanatics killing innocents? Or maybe because it doesn't try to sugarcoat things and explain these "poor misunderstood" psychopaths but lays the blame straight on said lowlife as well as on Iran? Or maybe because it doesn't try to blame certain of today's' preferred boogieman Russia?

I have not read the book so I guess, if it doesn't do the book justice, I can somewhat understand not liking it. However, to me, this was a decent, not spectacular but decent, two hours of entertainment. Decent action, decent speed and (with the exception of O'Brien) decent acting.