AMERICAN ASSASSIN Blu-ray Review
The Movie
Synopsis
American Assassin follows the rise of Mitch Rapp (Dylan O’Brien), a CIA Black-ops recruit under the instruction of Gold War veteran Stan Hurley (Michael Keaton). The pair is then enlisted by CIA Deputy Director Irene Kennedy (Sanaa Lathan) to investigate a wave of apparently random attacks on both military and civilian targets. Together, the three discover a pattern in the violence, leading them to a joint mission with a lethal Turkish agent (Shiva Negar) to shop a mysterious operative (Taylor Kitsch) intent on settling a personal and professional vendetta that could have cataclysmic results.
Directed By: Michael Cuesta
Written By: Stephen Schiff, Michael Finch, Edward Zwick, Marshall Herskovitz, and Vince Flynn
Starring: Dylan O’Brien (Mitch Rapp), Charlotte Vega (Katrina), Shahid Ahmed (Adnan Al-Mansur), Trevor White (Dr. Frain), Sanaa Lathan (Irene Kennedy), Michael Keaton (Stan Hurley), Shiva Negar (Annika), Scott Adkins (Victor), and much more.
Genre: Action & Thriller
Rating: R
Runtime: Approx. 112 Minutes
Blu-ray Details
Audio
- English: Dolby Atmos
- English: Dolby TrueHD 7.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
Video
- Codec: MPEG-4 AVC
- Resolution: Upscaled 1080p
- Original Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1
- Subtitles: English SDH & Spanish
Special Features
- Alamo Drafthouse Q&A
- Target Acquired: Creating an American Assassin
- Finding Mitch Rapp: Dylan O’Brien
- Transfer of Power: Hurley and Ghost
- Weaponized: Training and Stunts
- In the Field: Locations
My Thoughts
I give the American Assassin Blu-ray a B+.
I haven’t seen a film like this in a while. It reminded me of the films I use to watch as a kid because my Dad loved this genre. Dylan O’Brien’s portrayal of Mitch Rapp was on point. Just imagine watching the love of your life gunned-down by terrorists. Would you avenge their life? That’s exactly what Mitch did. He trained himself to the bone with one thing on his mind. To kill the man who destroyed his life.
There are many things I loved about this film. As stated above, I loved Dylan O’Brien’s performance as Mitch Rapp. I was impressed with the character as he trained himself to avenge the death of his love (fiancé). Once, he was introduced to Stan Hurley (played by Michael Keaton) and started training, there was one scene that I really liked. It was a sort of VR course where they had mere seconds to memorize faces of their targets. Once the program began, they were supposed to eliminate said targets. I don’t think I could have memorized the faces that quickly. Of course, Hurley (Keaton) added the image of the man who killed Rapp’s fiancé. I was a little disappointed in Scott Adkins performance as he is one of my favorite actors. I felt that the character he played (Victor) did not show what he (Adkins) is capable of. I felt Adkins as an actor had so much more to offer then what I saw on screen. I enjoyed Michael Keaton in this film. His character (Stan Hurley) was the ultimate assassin. He could go in and get what needed to be done without being noticed somewhat like a ninja in many ways.
This Blu-ray is non-stop action from beginning to end. The last 30 mins of the film or so had me on the edge of my seat. I definitely recommend it, if you haven’t seen it!
Catch American Assassin out on Blu-ray, DVD, & Digital HD December 5th!