3 Short Paragraphs: American Assassin

2017, Michael Cuesta (showrunner Homeland) -- download

This was originally supposed to be a post paired with Den of Thieves, wherein I rambled on about the cathartic nature of guns and violence. Not sure why that didn't happen; it was a while ago, but the truth still holds. I will follow up this post with a movie I just finished (21 Bridges) as they both involve a very very violent Taylor Kitsch. And considering these uncertain times our current times, catharsis is almost a requirement. Despite not being able to shoot a Bad Guy responsible for what we are doing, watching someone punish someone deserving, is ... something, right? Right?

This movie stars baby-faced Dylan O'Brien (Teen Wolf), who watches the love of his life gunned down by terrorists while they vacation in paradise. Instead of wallowing, he self-trains and eventually hunts down the leader of the terrorist cell that ended his idyllic life. That brings him to the attention of an American black-ops group, who integrates him into their agenda.

Rapp (O'Brien) is trained by the grizzled veteran Stan Hurley (Michael Keaton) and while considered a little too hot headed for this group initially, proves himself worthy in their first op. I like this version of Keaton, the aging guy emerging from a career that started as comedy, faded out for a while in the middle, but finds him embracing his greying look. The rest of the post-training movie's single act has Rapp chasing the disillusioned Ghost (Kitsch), one of Hurley's failed operatives, as he plots to use nukes against America. Its classic spy violence, visiting exotic not-America places and shooting up everyone and everything in pursuit of their goal, but the adrenaline adeptly lends itself to escaping your worries for a brief amount of time.