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What it’s about:
When Callum Lynch (Michael Fassbender) goes back in time and explores the memories of his ancestor Aguilar, he gains the skills of a Master Assassin and discovers he is a descendant of the secret Assassins society.
What we thought:
For the geeks and occasional gamers the title is nothing new. Assassin’s Creed, originally a video/computer game, is now a motion picture. The story follows Callum Lynch (Michael Fassbender), who through a revolutionary technology that unlocks genetic memories, goes on an adventure in 15th century Spain through the memories of his ancestor, Aguilar, and discovers he is part of the bloodline of a secret Assassin’s society. He gains incredible knowledge and skills in order to take on the oppressive and powerful Templar organisation in the present day.
Movies adapted from video games have historically not been well received, for many reasons, and I doubt Justin Kurzel-directed Assassin’s Creed is going to be an exception. The fans and gamers might disagree, but I doubt this will pass as a groundbreaking film with movie critics. The film itself is bland and average with a very boring storyline. Not a lot of intellectual dialogue, but more than enough fighting scenes. The fact that the film is in 3D made no contribution to the story and we are past the era where special effects such as 3D is enough to impress the viewer and distract him from the bland plot-line.
Technology throughout the years has narrowed the fine line between video games and film tremendously, with games becoming more and more cinematic. However, I struggle to find the bridge between the two a positive one for film. Video games becoming more cinematic, like Assassin’s Creed, the game has always been impressive since the start, but turning the game into a full motion picture turns out a lot less impressive as it might sound. As in the games, historical fiction meets science fiction, but in such a way that some parts of this disorganised story becomes muddle and too far fetched.
The popularity of the game series will likely attract teens, geeks and gamers and from the amount of money spent on the film and it’s special effects, it would likely even make it’s million at the box-office. However, I doubt it would impress any film lover or frequent moviegoer. If you are not into the video game or never even heard of it, rather give this one a skip at the cinemas.
The fact that most of the film plays off in 15th Century Spain doesn’t even make it a historical epic, but just feels like flashbacks from a unknown modern day era and at the end makes you leave the cinema with the feeling that you watched a video game instead of a film. Let’s leave the fancy special effects for the video games and rather focus on a good storyline and proper plot for the films.
