American Assassin

There are certain films I finish watching and immediately think, “How on earth did this not become a franchise?” American Assassin is one of them. Every time I revisit it, I’m left with exactly the same feeling, it had all the ingredients to launch a long-running action series, yet somehow it stopped after just one outing. With intense action, an engaging lead character and enough espionage to keep the story moving at a relentless pace, I still think this is one of the most underrated action thrillers of the last decade.

This is also one of those rare occasions where I’ve actually read the book the film is based on. In fact, I own the entire Vince Flynn Mitch Rapp series, so you can imagine how excited I was when I heard American Assassin was finally making its way to the big screen. Whenever a favourite book gets adapted, there’s always that mixture of excitement and nervousness because you know changes are inevitable. The question is whether those changes improve the experience or take away what made the original story so compelling.

So let’s get the two biggest talking points out of the way early. Firstly, no, this isn’t a faithful adaptation of Vince Flynn’s novel. The opening act is dramatically different, completely changing the events that send Mitch Rapp on his relentless pursuit of terrorists. The film also introduces Ghost, played by Taylor Kitsch, who isn’t a character in the novel at all, and builds towards a nuclear threat that is entirely unique to the film rather than adapting the book’s original climax. There are plenty of other alterations throughout, so anyone expecting a page-for-page adaptation may initially be disappointed.

Despite all of those differences, I genuinely think the filmmakers made many of those decisions for the right reasons. Setting the story in a more modern era allows it to reflect conflicts and threats that feel much closer to today’s world, giving the film a contemporary edge that makes the stakes feel more immediate. Ghost may not exist in the novel, but he gives the film a memorable antagonist and creates a more cinematic cat-and-mouse dynamic. As someone who can get incredibly frustrated when adaptations remove or alter elements that should have been left untouched, I was surprised by how well these changes worked. They weren’t made simply for the sake of being different—they helped shape the story into a film that stands confidently on its own while still capturing the spirit of Mitch Rapp. By the time the credits rolled, I remember thinking, “Right… when’s the sequel?” That’s always a good sign. I wasn’t sat there comparing it to the book anymore, I was invested in this version of Mitch Rapp and wanted to see where his journey went next. That’s why it’s so frustrating that the sequel never happened, because this genuinely felt like the start of something much bigger.

Dylan O’Brien completely won me over as Mitch Rapp. He captures the anger, grief and determination that define the character, and while this version isn’t identical to Flynn’s novels, I never struggled to accept him as Rapp. That’s a difficult balance to strike when adapting a beloved literary character, but O’Brien makes it look effortless. Following the horrific murder of his fiancée in the opening sequence, he portrays a man consumed by grief, anger and determination with genuine conviction. Rapp isn’t presented as an invincible action hero from the outset; he’s emotionally broken, reckless and driven almost entirely by revenge. Watching him gradually channel that rage into becoming a highly skilled operative makes for an engaging character journey, and O’Brien balances the physical demands of the role with enough emotional depth to make you invest in him. It’s a massive shame this role didn’t continue the momentum he’d built early in his career because he feels like such a natural fit for Mitch Rapp.

The supporting cast is equally strong. Michael Keaton brings plenty of gravitas as Stan Hurley, delivering exactly the kind of hardened mentor you’d expect from someone tasked with moulding Rapp into an elite operative. Taylor Kitsch deserves praise too, creating a villain whose motivations are more layered than your typical action movie antagonist. Add in solid performances from Sanaa Lathan and Shiva Negar, and the cast gives the film far more credibility than many similar action thrillers.

The action itself rarely disappoints. The fight choreography is brutal, the gunplay feels impactful and several sequences maintain a level of tension that keeps you fully invested. Rather than relying solely on massive explosions, American Assassin mixes close-quarters combat with espionage and intelligence work, giving it a slightly grittier feel than some of its blockbuster counterparts. It’s violent when it needs to be, but never feels excessive purely for shock value. Combined with its fast pace and confident direction, it’s an action film that’s consistently entertaining from start to finish.

That’s why I still struggle to understand why American Assassin failed to resonate with audiences. Had it performed better financially, I genuinely believe this could have become a successful franchise. Maybe it’s ambitious to suggest it could have eventually competed with the likes of Bond, Mission: Impossible or The Equalizer, but it certainly had the foundations to carve out its own place alongside those series. Sadly, we’ll never know what might have been.

I’m giving American Assassin a very respectable 4 out of 5. It’s not operating on the level of Skyfall or Mission: Impossible – Fallout, two films I consider among the very best the genre has to offer, but it delivers an exciting, well-acted and thoroughly entertaining introduction to a character who deserved more than one outing. I still hope someone takes another shot at adapting the Mitch Rapp novels one day because there are some fantastic stories still waiting to be told. But until that happens, American Assassin remains a hugely entertaining action thriller that deserved a franchise. For me, it’ll always sit firmly in the “what could have been” file, and if you’ve never given it a chance, I think you’re missing out.