American Assassin Review: 2 Ups & 8 Downs

6. The Plot Is Laughably Generic

Easily one of the most disappointing things about American Assassin is how its promising start seems to suggest a more unconventional spy thriller, but soon enough it succumbs to the comically flat and familiar cliches just about everyone expects.

The abrasive young hotshot has problems following orders, there's a well-dressed bureaucrat who doesn't like it, some nuclear material gets stolen, some double agents and disgruntled rogues are in the mix for good measure, and so on.

Everything basically feels like a rote photocopy of the Jason Bourne movies, but with a less-astute topical relevance, like a filler episode of 24 minus the breathy gravitas of Jack Bauer.

Once a character hilariously mentions that Dylan O'Brien's trainee agent "scored off the charts, maybe the best we've ever seen", it was clear this movie's script was scraping the bottom of the barrel, then turning the barrel upside down and giving it a violent shake just to be sure.