Assassin's Creed

Assassin's Creed is about a corporation who wants to unlock history's dark secrets. They plan on achieving it by using a device called the animus that uses the blood of the target's descendant to create a virtual environment of the ancestor's memory. The corporation is run by the Templars and their counterpart are called the Assassins.

Having played most of the games in the video game series, I felt this was a pretty lack luster attempt at capturing the story. Nothing is really explained in great detail like in the games, which was unfortunate but I can give it a pass since I shouldn't expect a movie that is only two hours long to explain too many of the secrets. What I can't forgive is the fact they continually addressed the apple over and over again but never explained its full significance. The scenes that took place in the past almost felt unnecessary as it never really furthered the plot.

All of the characters seemed pretty uninteresting... well at least compared to their video game counterparts. I honestly can't go into detail about them as most of their dialogue was just short sentences. They never became good three dimensional characters but instead cardboard cut outs of Desmond, Lucy, and Warren. The movie was just one long trailer for the games which granted was Ubisoft's intention and they didn't hide that fact. They pretty much even said before the movie was released that Assassin's Creed will not be a great film. The main goal is to get more people into the game series. That is my take away from this movie, Assassin's Creed is so vague in the story and characters that casual movie goers will be thinking "you know what, I didn't learn anything from this movie but I want to. Maybe I should try the game."

If you are a fan of the series, especially if you enjoyed the events that took place in the present. I expect you will be disappointed in the movie. If I were to put the movie on the video game scale, I would say it was better than Unity (by far) and would be even with Syndicate.

Assassin's Creed is definitely not a movie that you need to see in the theaters. It is more of a movie that should be rented but even that I am unsure about as I type this.

It's a movie based on a game so it will never be good anyway. In that respect then, it features a cast that is too good, and a thoroughly confusing plot. Given Ubi Soft and their involvement, a broken and unfinished product is something they are fantastic at giving us and this film doesn't disappoint in that regard.

As a young boy Callum Lynch witnessed his father murder his mother. Now, 30 years later, he is being executed for murder. However, the execution is faked and, instead of dying, he is transported to a special facility. It turns out that he is descended from a 15th century master-assassin, Aguilar, a member of the Assassin's Brotherhood. The plan is to train him in the ways of his forefather. This will enable him to fight the arch-enemy of his forefather, the Templars.

Great cast, very weak script. Plot is very basic and much of the movie consists of predictable, well-choreographed fight scenes. The writers try to throw in some intrigue and purpose by introducing the Apple of Eden but it is a fairly weak plot device.

Great cast - Michael Fassbender, Marion Cotillard, Jeremy Irons, Brendan Gleeson, Charlotte Rampling - but these talents are all wasted due to the action-driven, no-substance script. Michael Fassbender can only blame himself for appearing in such a piece of crap - he co-produced the movie.

I understand that some characters might have underwritten but people that bashing this movie as confusing are beyond me, maybe they just like or expect some full blown explosions and mediocre/boring setting. this is as simple as it can get. though the movie should've utilize more of its time with cutting some of exposition scenes and replace it with character developments, I get that it's beautiful but some time it's a little bit obnoxious. Also at least the action are far more clearer than half of action movies with their shaky cams. the parkour and fighting scenes though not a lot but executed pretty well. 7,5/10

I'll be honest I enjoyed this movie more than CA: Civil War. Though now I much prefer if this series made as a TV series not a movie. Maybe that's why some people still confused by the whole story and lore. So to summary:

Pros:

+ overall good MC and M. Fasbender did a great performances.

+ decent acting for some characters.

+ Beautiful Cinematography.

+ a faithful depictions of Assassins and Templars from the series.

+ well done action scenes. good parkour and fighting scenes. shaky cams and obnoxious jump cuts are pretty minimal, maybe only 1-2 scenes.

+ decent music but definitely could do more

Cons:

• Average story and plots, pretty similar to the first game storyline but with some changes and twists.

-Some dialogues were not that good. Not immersive and bit awkward.

-Some characters were underdeveloped, especially in the past time.

-a bit underwhelming ending, obvious sequel baiting.

-too many stay still/exposition scenes, maybe they should cut those and give some characters a perspectives and developments.

Following a somewhat parallel story to the original game, I do wish they would've stuck with original characters. Despite that, the film remains a fun and intriguing watch. The change of the Animus from a bed-like system to the VR style arm was something I originally disliked, but that change ends up playing well into the film visually and aids in parts of the story. The action scenes are well choreographed and exciting, countered with what may be a few too many close up facial expressions and dialogue that might easily confuse someone less familiar with the base plot of the franchise. As far as movie adaptations of video games, this is a far better rendition than many other attempts. As a standalone film it needs some work. But I know they intended to produce a trilogy so I'd like to believe the opportunity to release sequels will give the audience more of what they're looking for, while this movie may have been a bit too much set up rather than development. Personally I generously offer it 7/10, and would recommend seeing it. I hope it is successful enough for them to finish the intended trilogy.