American Assassin Review: 2 Ups & 8 Downs

Ups...

2. Dylan O'Brien Is A Surprisingly Convincing Action Hero

The Maze Runner's Dylan O'Brien isn't exactly the first, second, third or fourth actor you'd think of casting in a role like this, but credit to him, he's a lot more believable than you'd reasonably expect here.

Though the character's transformation from everyman to bada** is still totally unconvincing, O'Brien clearly worked had on sculpting his body for the part, and he's credible in the majority of the action sequences, even if the movie is sure not to pit him against any particularly over-sized henchmen, given his fairly small stature.

That's not to say there's going to be a big market for Dylan O'Brien action thrillers in the future, but he carries himself far better than expected, and for all of the film's many problems, he isn't one of them.