State of Play: “American Assassin” Misses the Mark

The main problem with this latest launch of a likely movie series is not necessarily the gratuitous violence and errant gun play – although those are bad, to be sure – American Assassin gets the people wrong, both the CIA personnel and the special operations community. It promotes that same pernicious narrative that unbalanced, reckless, and immoral people operate behind the scenes to keep the country safe.

The movie centers on two protagonists, an untrained, yet earnest young recruit, and a retired, Navy SEAL, his trainer. This version of Jason Bourne has his memory intact. The story line of American Assassin is loosely based on the bestseller by Vince Flynn and follows the arc of an innocent young American male, Mitch Rapp, played by Dylan O’Brien, enjoying the beaches of Spain, when an unexpected horrific event brings severe anguish to his life and sets him out on a path of revenge.  Enter the CIA (!) and special operations instructor Stan Hurley, played by Michael Keaton, taking notice of Rapp, and eventually bringing him into their highly restricted program.