Aside from taking off your shoes, there's no practical difference between European airport security and American. Both can have long lines depending on the airport, cheeky and or angry staff.
I use night train, when available, 1/2H to the train station, 5mn to boaard, and I wake up the following day in a nice city to explore. (not an hour away from that city, but in the center).
Only in 3rd world countries like the US and some of the worst parts of Africa and Asia you have to wait over 1hr in the line on average, and it's better to avoid the worst airports, like Detroit, Chicago, Minneapolis, Atlanta or Newark at all to fly in from abroad. Paris CDG (de Gaulle), Heathrow, Rome and Istanbul are the worst in Europe and you still cannot compare it to any airport in the US when flying in.