American Assassin - Starring Michael Keaton

[Hoke Moseley]

Yeah, I'm starting to look forward to this.

[Darth Marcus]

Trailer #2:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLSyJT4y_I8

[Darth Marcus]

I gotta see, I felt like I already knew too much about the movie, and this new trailer takes it a step further. If you're not interested in knowing anything else before actually sitting down to watch the film, don't watch Trailer #2.

[imsounoriginal]

Had never heard of this til I happened to see the trailer in front of something about a month ago. I thought that showed just enough without spoiling too much.

[jacobsever]

Saw a trailer in front of this at Alien: Covenant last night (2nd run theater)...and I don't know how I feel. At first I thought it looked really cool, but the more I saw, the least interested I got.

[jacobsever]

American Assassin



American Assassin is an interesting film. To sum it up real quick, in case you don't want to read everything...it's like if John Wick had a child with Jason Bourne. (The films, not the characters). It's almost like John Wick, Jr. The part you get from John Wick is the amazing fight scenes and kills, as well as a very basic story. What you get from Jason Bourne, is the semi-typical Hollywood action flick. It's like a hybrid of wanting to do something different, while keeping things very familiar and paint-by-numbers. Not quite unique enough to stand in the same line as John Wick and The Accountant; but also too violent/gory/rated R to be counted with Jason Bourne, Mission Impossible, James Bond, etc.

What is similar to John Wick as far as story, is that it's a revenge story. In the very beginning of this film, you see a young man propose to his girlfriend, only to minutes later have her mown down in front of him. (Not a spoiler, shows it in the trailer). This kicks off years of training, secrecy, and planning to get back at anyone and everyone that was involved in the murder...not caring who gets in the way. Very John Wick-ian. What comes after that, is involvement in secret government/CIA task forces featuring an over-the-top leader (played by Michael Keaton). Pretty straightforward story that packs a lot of things into it, without ever getting confusing or convoluted. Very easy to follow, which is something you want in a film that gives it's best moments to fight sequences. You're not trying to combine John Wick kills with a Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy story. That would just be overbearing.

The fight sequences, violence, kills, and gore were top notch in this movie. Where John Wick is very gun driven, this film utilizes a lot more close, hand-to-hand combat. Early in the film you see our main protagonist training in an MMA gym. Lots of holds and submissions. A few of the fight scenes get a little too shaky for my liking, but overall the choreography is very well mapped out, and very exciting to watch. This is definitely a rated R film, between the amount of blood shown and quite a few "hard" curse words. As an avid horror fan, there was a couple scenes that made me shift in my seat and look away.

The performances all around were great. Michael Keaton is just a genius. He's actually very intimidating and gives a real sense of authority. The lead, Dylan O'Brien, was very charming. He looks like a mini Wahlberg brother. Has a very interesting voice, which might get on some people's nerves. I enjoyed him though, and while I haven't read the source material novels, I think he was cast very well in this role. There were a couple scenes early on in the film where I thought "Oh sh**, this kid is pretty bada**." Taylor Kitsch was a great great villain. I recognize the name (John Carter, Lone Survivor, Friday Night Lights), but have never actually seen him in anything before. So I didn't have to get over any pre-concieved ideas of past characters played.

This movie absolutely takes itself seriously. There are a few humorous moments sprinkled in for very light comic relief; but overall this movie has a very serious tone. But for me, it almost becomes too serious and circles back around to being campy. But that, for me, doesn't detract at all. Movies that revolve around violence and kills first, story second can absolutely benefit from being a little on the campy side of things. But if you're an action fan to begin with, I'm sure you'll have no problem keeping with the serious feel and tone of the film.

Overall, this was a very great surprise. I'm not quite sure the gap between ultra-violent and studio action films needed to be bridged, but if it did, this fits it perfectly. It's a fun time that doesn't require too much from the viewer. I'll probably go check it out again with a friend when it comes out.

Somewhere in between a 3.5 and a 4...so I'll just go ahead and give it the little extra.

4/5

[yellowjacket1]

Originally Posted by Darth Marcus

I gotta see, I felt like I already knew too much about the movie, and this new trailer takes it a step further. If you're not interested in knowing anything else before actually sitting down to watch the film, don't watch Trailer #2.

The first trailer made this a top three "most anticipated" movie for the rest of the year for me.

Then, this trailer pissed me off by doing what way too many of them do and that is SHOW THE ENTIRE MOVIE in cliffs-note version. WHY????????

I can't believe they cut together that much story in to a freakin' trailer.

[jacobsever]

Originally Posted by yellowjacket1

The first trailer made this a top three "most anticipated" movie for the rest of the year for me.

Then, this trailer pissed me off by doing what way too many of them do and that is SHOW THE ENTIRE MOVIE in cliffs-note version. WHY????????

I can't believe they cut together that much story in to a freakin' trailer.

You might think that, but you'd be wrong.

That trailer is actually pretty mis-leading, as far as a lot of the smaller details go. And either way, this isn't the type of movie you go into for the story & character building. This is a pure indulgence of violence. You go into this movie to see the fight choreography and the kills.

[Foggy]

Film has a pretty gnarly 18 rating over here which has me intrigued.

[Creed]

Originally Posted by Foggy

Film has a pretty gnarly 18 rating over here which has me intrigued.

Yep, it is that violent. Even the red band trailer took me by surprise when it revealed a shit ton of blood. I thought it would be PG-13.

[jacobsever]

Things in the trailer that are misleading: (putting descriptions in spoilers in case anyone doesn't want to know. not really spoilers, just clarifications of how the trailer cuts together footage that is misleading).

[Show spoiler]They say "eliminate the target" as the man is stepping out of the vehicle, followed by our lead taking a photo of him. In the movie, during the scene where he is taking photos with his cell phone, it's not of that man at all.

[Show spoiler]Not major at all, but at the end of this clip, the car he gets into is not the same scene. He uses that car later in the film during a chase scene. The car he uses to chase the guy out of this restaurant is different.

[Show spoiler]Way it's cut makes it appear as if he's about to hit a huge wave head on, when in actuality, that wave doesn't come until later in the film.

[Show spoiler]Once again, cut together very misleading. Makes it appear as if he is in a tight situation, takes out a couple people, and jumps out the window to escape. But that's not actually him that jumps out the window, it's someone else not pictured in the trailer at all

So yeah, you might think you know most of the movie based on this trailer, but it's misleading and not what you think.

[Monterey Jack]

Reading the book right now.

[yellowjacket1]

Originally Posted by jacobsever

You might think that, but you'd be wrong.

That trailer is actually pretty mis-leading, as far as a lot of the smaller details go. And either way, this isn't the type of movie you go into for the story & character building. This is a pure indulgence of violence. You go into this movie to see the fight choreography and the kills.

That's more discouraging news. I honestly wanted more than violence porn with Keaton and this concept.

[jacobsever]

To each their own! I went in wanting just non stop kills like John Wick.

[dancerslegs]

I miss funny Michael Keaton.

[Britnasty]

If I see this trailer one more time in theatres, I'm gonna run into oncoming traffic. I took my young cousin to see The NutJob 2 today.....and this was the last trailer they played after a slew of family films (Coco, Ferdinand, Leap!, Jumanji----then this).

I've seen it before every single movie for the past months and I'm gonna rip my hair out lol

[Troll2fan]

Originally Posted by Britnasty

If I see this trailer one more time in theatres, I'm gonna run into oncoming traffic. I took my young cousin to see The NutJob 2 today.....and this was the last trailer they played after a slew of family films (Coco, Ferdinand, Leap!, Jumanji----then this).

I've seen it before every single movie for the past months and I'm gonna rip my hair out lol

I'm on the other end of the spectrum because I've only seen the damn thing once. Lol

[MegatronG1]

Hey, Dylan O' Brien, sign me up, not forgetting Keaton of course!

[Blu Lemmy]

I'm a Massive fan of the books, read them all (R.I.P Vince Flynn) so am super stoked for this one

[Pendemonium]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Cx8...ature=youtu.be