'American Assassin' Ending Explained: How Does Mitch Rapp Get the Job Done? (2024)

The 2017 spy thriller, American Assassin, remains the first and only film adaptation of Vince Flynn's best-selling Mitch Rapp book series. Starring Dylan O'Brien as Flynn's Mitch Rapp character and Michael Keaton as Stan Hurley, American Assassin failed to ignite a franchise, despite the popular source material and numerous books available to utilize. That said, American Assassin remains an entertaining action and spy-thriller affair, boasting an entertaining, scene-chewing performance by Michael Keaton, along with O'Brien portraying a hardened and cold-blooded CIA operative in Mitch Rapp, who becomes traumatized by the loss of his girlfriend in a senseless tragedy.

American Assassin was not the first book published in the Mitch Rapp saga, but it is chronologically the first, depicting the origins of Rapp, Stan Hurley, and Irene Kennedy (Sanaa Lathan). The film depicts Rapp's backstory, with him and his newly engaged fiancée Katrina (Charlotte Vega), gunned down by assailants while on vacation in Ibiza. The encounter puts Rapp on a quest for vengeance, leading to his eventual recruitment into the CIA and a black operations unit, Orion, led by Cold War veteran Stan Hurley (Keaton).

American Assassin

R

Action

Thriller

After the death of his girlfriend at the hands of terrorists, Mitch Rapp is drawn into the world of counterterrorism, mentored by tough-as-nails former U.S. Navy S.E.A.L. Stan Hurley.

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*Availability in US

Release Date

September 15, 2017

Director

Michael Cuesta

Cast

Kamil Lemieszewski , Sanaa Lathan , Trevor White , Dylan O'Brien , David Suchet , Scott Adkins , Andrew Pleavin , Michael Keaton , Taylor Kitsch , Shiva Negar , Navid Negahban

Runtime

111minutes

Writers

Vince Flynn , Stephen Schiff , Michael Finch , Edward Zwick , Marshall Herskovitz

Studio

CBS Films

What Is 'American Assassin' About?

Throughout American Assassin, Hurley and Rapp are on the trail of an ex-CIA operative-turned-mercenary, code-named "Ghost" (Taylor Kitsch). Ghost was a young, promising recruit from the Navy named Ronnie who was handpicked by Hurley. After an operation went badly, Ronnie was mistakenly marked as killed in action. Feeling betrayed, Ghost defected from the United States government and became a mercenary. Ghost finds allies in hardline Iranian politicians, who seek to retaliate against the U.S. following a recently signed nuclear weapons treaty with the mainstream faction of the Iranian government. Ghost is helping the hardliners acquire stolen nuclear materials and the services of a nuclear physicist to build a deadly nuclear weapon.

Hurley meets his contact in Iranian Intelligence, Ashani (Mohammad Bakri), learning that Iranian General Rostami (Joseph Long) and Minister of Defense Behruz (Navid Negahban) are the individuals looking to acquire the weapon of mass destruction and provoke a nuclear war. They are the ones who hire Ghost to do their dirty work and acquire the bomb materials. During their meeting, Ghost guns down Ashani and takes Hurley prisoner. After Ghost's Iranian allies complete and set a timer on the bomb, Ghost betrays them, stealing the nuke to get revenge on the United States for its perceived betrayal.

Taylor Kitsch's Ghost Looks To Incapacitate the U.S. Navy

Rapp and an Iranian intelligence agent, Annika Ogden (Shi va Negar), who wants to prevent the hardliners from starting a nuclear war, manage to track down Ghost's hideout, rescuing Hurley in the process. Annika is captured by Ghost, but she sacrifices herself so she won’t be taken hostage, enabling Rapp to finish the job. Unfortunately, Ghost manages to escape with the activated nuclear weapon and the timer counting down to its detonation. Rapp confronts Ghost as he attempts to get away on a speed boat, and Hurley realizes Ghost seeks to detonate the nuclear weapon in a kamikaze attack against the United States Navy’s Sixth Fleet, fulfilling a long-held dream to die at sea and cripple the United States Navy in the process.

Rapp engages Ghost in a furious, intense action scene. In one of the highlights of the film, Rapp showcases the dedication to the training he put himself through to get revenge on his girlfriends' killers. Despite Ghost's superior military training and experience, Rapp overcomes his predecessor with a self-taught trick where he grabs Ghost's knife by the blade and uses the knife technique he learned from Hurley at the Orion training camp by stabbing Ghost in the neck. Rapp diverts the boat away from the Sixth Fleet and drops the nuke into the ocean, and he's promptly saved via chopper by Hurley, who arrives just in the nick of time. In the film's most suspenseful, nail-biting sequence, the nuke detonates underwater, but the Sixth Fleet manages to survive the blast and its aftermath, saving many of the naval workers aboard the various ships.

Rapp Returns To Tie Up Loose Ends

In the film's epilogue, CIA Deputy Director Irene Kennedy meets with Hurley while he's recovering in the hospital, and they notice during a television news report that one of Ghost's conspirators, General Rostami, is blaming the CIA for the recent nuclear detonation. Rostami is also expected to become the next president of Iran, and the politician promises to restart the country's nuclear program and "annihilate America." While in Dubai, General Rostami is seen entering an elevator with his personal security team. And who does General Rostami see when he turns around? None other than Mitch Rapp is standing behind him, giving the impression that Rapp has tracked down General Rostami in Dubai to covertly kill him. Rapp continues with the goal voiced earlier in the film, to become a boogeyman for individuals such as Rostami. Rostami turns away, not realizing Rapp's identity and his imminent fate. The camera closes in on Rapp's face as the elevator doors slam shut.

The Mitch Rapp Saga Would’ve Worked Better as a Series

While American Assassin wasn't a huge box office success for CBS Films and Lionsgate, history suggests that the theatrical motion picture format may not have been the best medium for the Mitch Rapp book series. With such a significant amount of source material and a loyal fan following, a better avenue for the Mitch Rapp saga can be found in the premium streaming television format. Case in point, Lee Child's Jack Reacher series, which started as a theatrical film series starring Tom Cruise, now enjoys great critical success and staggering viewership as a popular Prime Video series, Reacher. The show recently finished streaming its second season with a third on the way.

Another notable spy thriller series that was successfully translated from the book to television is Tom Clancy'sJack Ryan series. There have been several Jack Ryan film adaptations over the years with varying degrees of success. Still, Prime Video's Jack Ryan series, starring John Krasinski, had an excellent four-season run. Prime Video's TV adaptation of the action-thriller series, The Terminal List, starring Chris Pratt as James Reece, was also hugely successful, receiving a second-season renewal and an upcoming prequel series, Dark Wolf, that will see Taylor Kitsch reprise his role as Ben Edwards and Chris Pratt's return as James Reece. Surely, if the Mitch Rapp series gets another chance at a media adaptation, a streaming TV series would be a better fit for fans who enjoy a good, old-fashioned spy thriller show.

American Assassin is available to stream on Netflix in the U.S.

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