Stars Dylan O’Brien, Michael Keaton, Sanaa Lathan, Taylor Kitsch, Shiva Negar, with Scott Adkins and David Suchet Directed by Michael Cuesta This might be some attempt at making an American James Bond like franchise, what with the 15+ books featuring Mitch Rapp as source material This origin story is was the 11th book and the fact that the books is a source material shines through in the pacing of the movie and the flow of the story. But that’s not really a fault against the movie. The movie open with Mitch (Dylan O’Brien) proposing to his girlfriend on a beach, who in no time is shot down in a terrorist attack. We skip 18 months later and Mitch has managed to train himself in MMA and firearms to highly proficient levels all the while infiltrating the same terrorist group responsible for his girlfriend’s death. Talk about commitment. When his opportunity for revenge is taken away by the intervention of the CIA, Mitch is given the opportunity to train up properly with Stan Hurley (Michael Keaton) as part of a covert team. In the meantime, there’s a little problem with some weapons-grade Russian plutonium going missing. And that’s when things really get cooking. Performance-wise, O’Brien manages to play Rapp with a stoic determination, almost an emotionless killing machines that any military unit would love to have. Whether that works for you as a viewer will have to be a personal choice. Keaton brings a little more as the no-nonsense Hurley, the kind of tough guy you hope Rapp would be, but as a noble act, they do well in their scenes together. Then we have Taylor Kitsch pulling bad-guy duties, and doing fairly well. Michael Cuesta last delivered the very solid drama Kill The Messenger, and he manages the drama here well enough, relying more on the music to underscore the scenes. His handle on the action is fairly solid too with great assist from the legendary Vic Armstrong to deliver some tight and engaging action beats be it fights or chases. The delicate balance between the two aspects however leaves something to be desired, particularly the pacing. While it is clear that certain beats have to be hit where the plot is concerned, the drama and the action are somehow separated and detached from each other, particularly with the major high-stakes set-piece towards the end. It is clear that there were some pre-production problems going on just from the story structure alone. Ultimately, the movie manages to hold itself together and deliver a reasonably entertaining time-waster, and perhaps the sequels, if any, may fair better now that the teething problems are out of the way. Rating *** /5 Find the best online deals here. | Barnes and Noble | Google Play Store | Book Depository Discover more about the books here. Please Support.
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