This adaptation of the 2010 novel by Vince Flynn, directed
by Michael Cuesta, is a gory revenge fantasy that opens with a bang and
proceeds at a breakneck pace, unleashing a veritable tsunami of bullets, bodies
and blood as it goes. When his fiancee (Charlotte Vega) is gunned down by
terrorists, a young man (Dylan O'Brien) seeks to avenge her death by
transforming into a lean, mean, fighting machine. Recruited by a CIA official
(Sanaa Lathan), he becomes part of a black-ops program run by a grizzled
veteran (Michael Keaton). With the aid of a Turkish agent (Shiva Negar), mentor
and protégé seek to infiltrate a terrorist cell determined to wage nuclear war
(Taylor Kitsch plays its mysterious leader). A strong stomach and extreme
patience are required until the film finally comes to its senses and good
triumphs over evil.
Watch out for: A vigilante
theme, constant bloody violence, including torture and gunplay, brief upper
female nudity, several uses of profanity and pervasive rough and much crude
language.
Rated: L, limited adult
audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling;
MPAA: R
© Arlington Catholic Herald 2017