Review of American Assassin (2017) by Mike D — 16 Sep 2017

Let's start with negatives: definitely some characterization issues that need to be ironed out, a few weird and jarring camera choices (I'm looking at you overly long zoom-ins), some emotional music that's a bit too manipulative.

Pros: the action is fresh, sometimes clever, and always awesome, the acting is solid, the plot is tight and smart, the dialogue is good enough to not be cringey, the main character is likable, there are bits of genuinely funny comedy sprinkled in, the mentor is fun if you just assume he's a crazy asshole, and the finale is definitely something that hasn't been done on-screen before (as far as I've seen anyway).

No, it's not an Oscar-bait that has the critics falling all over themselves, but it's a fun movie that adds a bit more than your average action movie to the mix. I think it'll be a start to the franchise if they do well enough and it could be a really stellar franchise if given the room it needs to grow.