SYNOPSIS
Through a revolutionary technology that unlocks his genetic memories, Callum Lynch (Michael Fassbender) experiences the adventures of his ancestor, Aguilar, in 15th Century Spain. Callum discovers he is descended from a mysterious secret society, the Assassins, and amasses incredible knowledge and skills to take on the oppressive and powerful Templar organization in the present day.
ASSASSIN’S CREED stars Academy Award® nominee Michael Fassbender (X-Men: Days of Future Past, 12 Years a Slave) and Academy Award winner Marion Cotillard (The Dark Knight Rises, La Vie en Rose). The film is directed by Justin Kurzel (Snowtown, Macbeth); produced by New Regency, Ubisoft Motion Pictures, DMC Films and Kennedy/Marshall; co-financed by RatPac Entertainment and Alpha Pictures; and distributed by 20th Century Fox . ASSASSIN’S CREED opens in theaters worldwide on December 21st, 2016.
What We Thought:
I have never played an Assassin’s Creed video game so I can’t tell you if the movie and video games make sense. If you’ve never played a game either, you won’t have an issue or feel lost. I certainly didn’t. The film stands alone without needing to know anything about the games.
Early reviews crushed the film with one saying it made Michael Fassbender boring. I don’t know what they are talking about. The movie isn’t groundbreaking and doesn’t add anything new to the genre, but it’s a watchable, solid action adventure flick.
It’s a science fiction style film with a similar tone of something like Source Code, but with a lot more action. The idea of jumping into memories is similar, but this is way more action oriented. Good action too with swords and blades. Most of the action scenes take place in 1492 so there’s no guns, planes, tanks and that sort of stuff. It’s all hand fighting which I like. It’s not quite The Matrix with game changing technology, but it’s solid.
The cast is quite good too. Fassbender is one of the best actors going and he constantly demands your attention. Sure he’s a good looking guy, but he handles the fighting well and he’s very believable in the role. You don’t expect someone like Marion Cotillard to be in a video game movie, but she’s really good in it. As a scientist, she’s much more engaging than just a Bond girl type character. I’ll watch pretty much anything with Jeremy Irons and Brendan Gleeson even though Gleeson doesn’t get much screen time. Michael K. Williams is also good.
Sure it’s similar to other movies I’ve mentioned and I’d also add Inception with a little Prince of Persia (very little because that was terrible), but overall it’s far from the worst movie of the year. It’s a bit too long, but being the first of a potential franchise, you need the time to explain the process and characters for those of us not familiar with the games.
Assassin’s Creed will unfortunately get killed at the box office by Rogue One and unless it does big overseas, I’m not sure if it will get a sequel which it held a door open for. If you don’t expect anything new or mind-blowing, you should enjoy it. I did. The set design is fantastic as is costuming and the entire look of the film. I’d much rather watch hand to hand fighting than most of the CGI nonsense of today, but this will most likely get lost at the theater and disappoint overall. For me though, it is…
RECOMMENDED:
CAST & CREW:
- Michael Fassbender
- Marion Cotillard
- Jeremy Irons
- Brendan Gleeson
- Michael K. Williams
Recommended if you like:
- The video games
- science fiction
The Nerds Templar 