Now, I used to be really into these serial crime dramas from Tom Clancy and Clive Cussler, but then Cussler described a forest as “Shrek-like” and even I knew that was stupid back in freshman year of high school. So, I stopped reading them and subsequently lost interest in the genre and missed the whole Vince Flynn bandwagon. But my parents didn’t and they absolutely love the books, so if you’re wondering who reads those books in the grocery store's meager book section -- it’s them.
Anyway, despite being mass-market spy novels, Flynn’s adaptation of American Assassin got a big boost with an Oscar winning director: Edward Zwick. He helmed The Last Samuari and Blood Diamond and should bring a grounded grittiness to the film that will probably be ridiculous. How ridiculous? Let’s go to the studio-provided plot summary:
American Assassin tells the story of legendary CIA agent Mitch Rapp. Long before he began hunting terrorists, Rapp was a gifted college scholar/athlete. Then, tragedy struck and Rapp was recruited into the nation’s most elite covert operations program. After completing training designed to teach the kind of lethal skills necessary to target our most dangerous enemies, here and abroad, he is a man reborn with a mission of retribution.
Tragedy struck when you were recruited by an elite CIA program after you were a gifted student athlete? Oh, you poor thing.
Source: ComingSoon