Keaton to rescue in retro action film
If the real-life United States government is being protected by operatives like the ones in Michael Cuesta’s “American Assassin,” we might as well hand our White House launch codes to the enemy right now.
In one mission, our reckless hero manages to go rogue twice in one hour, putting his whole team at added risk. The result is to give him more military responsibilities.
What the film lacks in sense, however, it makes up for in blunt force entertainment. The muscular spy thriller is dumb, jingoistic and mostly forgettable, with a script so obvious it borders on insulting. It’s also escapist, fun and features Michael Keaton capable of killing people with his bare hands.
Just know what side you’re on going in, and nobody will be disappointed. Have you enjoyed all three “Taken” movies, and written letters to the studio demanding a fourth? Run, don’t walk, to the theater to see this film.
The name, “American Assassin,” may be the most subtle and nuanced thing about the movie. Dylan O’Brien is Mitch Rapp, who loses his girlfriend to a terrorist attack, trains relentlessly, infiltrates an Islamic State-like terror camp and is saved by U.S. forces.
The CIA, after monitoring his vengeance obsession and suicidal recklessness, decides this Rapp fellow is just the kind of black ops associate the country needs. They team him with possibly-even-bigger-psycho Stan Hurley (Keaton), and task them to nearly single-handedly secure a briefcase-size plutonium bomb on its way to blow up an American city.
It’s all a throwback to mainstream entertainment of the 1980s, when most movie dialogue was exposition, Iran and Russia took turns playing the bad guys, and filmmakers weren’t afraid to put montages in the montages. The script of this movie sounds as if it was written by Ernest Hemingway, if his only available medium was fortune cookies. (“The enemy dresses like a deer, and kills like a lion!”)
And just like in the 1980s, an otherwise bad movie is made bearable by the efforts of Michael Keaton. The actor gives us a decent idea what “Batman” would be like if he was Joker instead of the Caped Crusader, staring death in the face, laughing at the prospect of torture and finding humiliating ways to kill all who underestimate him.
Cuesta’s direction is all blunt objects, like a doctor performing surgery with a plastic fork from Burger King. But he shines in the more testosterone-charged scenes, including the opening terrorist attack with its tracking shots above and below water.
Finally, a salute to film composer Steven Price, who also scored “Attack the Block” and “Gravity,” for his commitment to the throwback vibe, working mostly with drums and synthesizers.
After a while, it’s hard to tell where the movie starts and your heartbeat ends.
The script of this movie sounds as if it was written by Ernest Hemingway, if his only available medium was fortune cookies.