Assassin's Creed
Director: Justin Kurzel
Cast: Michael
Fassbender , Marion
Cotillard , Jeremy
Irons, Brendan Gleeson ,
Michael Kenneth
Williams , Ariane Labed, Denis Menochet
Genre: Action, Adventure, Fantasy,
Sci-Fi
Released: 1st Jan 2017
Video game adaptations like books are a
tricky business to convert into film. whereas books have had more successes
with the big screen e.g. Lord of the
rings, Harry
Potter
A mysterious company called Abstergo abducts Callum Lynch Aguilar (also Fassbender) an assassin in
15th Spain. These memories bring to light an ancient war between the group of
assassins known as the Assassin's creed and their foes the controlling
Templars. Callum must decide for himself his role in this everlasting conflict and
how much will he let the past dictate his future.
The main problem with trying to converting a medium
you can spend countless hours on into film is how do you balance a story that
will keep the audience engaged while still being able to capture the spirit and
excitement of a game. What Kurzel and Co. gets right is the essence of the kind
of action Assassin's creed is famous
for with most of the best action sequences taken placed in the past. Throughout
these action sequences, they throw everything in including assassin weaponry
such as wrist blades and smoke bombs and parkour like moves such as leaping
across rooftops, banners, jumping from one building to another. One
particularly great inclusion from the stealthy franchise is the Leap of the
faith, a manoeuvre where the assassin swan dives from a building landing safely
into a bale of hay. Choosing to shoot the stunt practically instead of 100%
CGI, is a move that gives the scene a more realistic feel (also keeping it
within the realm of realism you do not witness the landing) and earns them the
title of highest stunt performed in film history.
While the expertly executed action is a joy
to watch, unfortunately the same care has not been put into the details of the
story or its characters. The balance of the past and present comes across
rather uneven, with most of the character development spent in the present. Aguilar's
back-story isn't explained, you don't know why he joined the creed or what lead
him there you are just meant to accept that he woke up one day and decided 'I
think I am going to join the assassin's creed today' because that pretty much
is where his story starts, at his initiation. His entire story is meant to
serve as a way of keeping an eye on the artefact, the apple of eden
with incredible action scenes thrown in. With present day protagonist Callum,
his development is more fleshed out yet that is not without its plot holes either.
He starts off as a kid witnessing a murder of a family member then next minute
it's 20 years later and he is on death row for murder (for a pimp you later
find out, even for Law & Order
standards that is quite the sentencing leap). As the protagonist, Callum is not
a very sympathetic character to get behind with his ambiguously violent past and
somewhat mentally unstable behaviour there is not much to keep the audience on
side, the supposed villains actually come off more sympathetic than the lead
himself (at least in present day they do).
As
far as video game adaptations go, it isn't the worst film to have emerged. There
is as much to like, as there is to crinkle your brows at puzzled, the thrilling
action scenes keep your eyes glued to the screen and for the fans, the easter
eggs are a nice touch. Assassin Creed
is less of a hero's journey and more of a tale of how an evil corporation push
a convicted felon to have a phsychotic break, causing him melded with the
memories of his 15th century assassin achestor…..Bring the kids!
2 ½ stars