jhornsby912 Reviews

American Assassin (2017)

CIA lets rookie/amateur "agent" run rogue?!?

[5/10 · 5 February 2024]

I wasn't expecting an all-time classic action film, and the idea intrigued me (terror attack victim trains up to get revenge); but this one asks viewers to suspend a truckload of disbelief. The post-attack screen says "18 months later," and our "hero," Mitch Rapp, has learned MMA, weapons, infiltration tactics/dark web navigation, *and* is fluent in Arabic and the full history of the Islamic faith?? Really?? Where did he get the money for all this? Is he a savant who can absorb and process years worth of training in so little time? From other reviews, it sounds like the filmmakers glossed over a really good backstory in the novels.

We learn that the CIA has been surveilling Rapp with an eye on recruiting him. Despite his questionable psychological profile and lack of formal training, Rapp is added onto the CIA's most elite and least known operations team. He is then added to a mission to track and stop the manufacture of an improvised nuclear device. In the field, Rapp can't control his emotions enough to not continually stare at his surveillance targets, but his team leader and more-experienced teammates don't call him on it. He disobeys orders. He's violent beyond what is necessary. Why is he still on the mission? I couldn't get invested enough in Rapp's value to understand how he gets the familiar "let him run wild" treatment (plot device).

These distractions weren't enough for me to not see the movie through to its end. But they took away from what could've been a decent action flick. I'm not surprised the proposed franchise never got off the ground; the supporting characters were more engaging than the lead. Can we get an origin movie for Stan Hurley?

Reacher (2022– )

Great, but still some problems vs. the books

[9/10 · 6 February 2022]

Unlike most people (it seems), I liked the Tom Cruise movies. Once you got past the size problem (which, admittedly, wasn't easy), I thought Cruise portrayed the Reacher character quite well: great fighter and better shot; terse, yet funny and flirtatious; rigidly nomadic and spartan; loyal to his friends; merciless to his enemies.

Alan Ritchson brings the size everyone wanted, and gets most of the Reacher character. But he speaks in such a monotone, machine-gun manner and fails to make eye contact consistently in a way that made me think they were putting Reacher on the spectrum. The intense gaze that unsettles people is a Reacher hallmark. Ritchson looks more like he's taking an eyecexam. Also, he has a surprisingly short stride for someone his size, so he walks like a robot (or an animated comic book hero). Hopefully in future seasons, he'll loosen up just a little and show a little more charm and empathy.

One nagging (and possibly spoiling) goof: In the episode 8 flashback scene where Reacher and his brother go to their dying mother, Reacher gets meticulously attired in his full dress uniform but still sports the same 5 o'clock shadow and unbrushed hair as in the rest of the show. No career military officer, or loving son visiting his dying mother, would take such care for his outfit and then ignore his grooming.

Without Remorse (II) (2021)

Missed opportunity / Waste of MBJ

[4/10 · 1 May 2021]

Michael B. Jordan gave an incredible performance, capturing the quiet determination and commitment of Tom Clancy's John Kelly. But the rest of this movie was a failure of imagination and a monument to formulaic cinema.

The source novel takes place in the Vietnam War era, so it's understandable that they didn't want to make a straight translation of the book. But the storylines were still there for the taking - a Navy SEAL taking revenge on a drug trafficking network that caused his wife's death, while he's also doing covert operations for the CIA and DOD in a war zone? What part of that couldn't have been made relevant for today?

An even bigger travesty is the character development of John Kelly in this movie. In the the novel, Kelly's handlers are continually surprised and impressed by his analysis of the economics of the drug trade and interpersonal dynamics of the drug cartel he's trying to take down. He's also adept with logistics and tactical strategy, even improving on their mission plans in Vietnam. These traits are what make him so valuable to the CIA, and eventually the obvious choice for heading up Rainbow. But in the movie, Kelly is reduced to a killing machine who shows flashes of intelligence, yet still manages to fall into just about every trap set for him. Too often, MBJ's Kelly has to fight his way out of a bad situation, whereas Clancy's Kelly was always one step ahead.

The 4 stars here are for MBJ making the most of what he was given. Too bad the creative team didn't make the most of what they were given by Clancy and could've been given by MBJ.