I don’t know if you want to call it a curse, or just a consistent form of lazy writing/directing, but video game movies have had a disastrous losing streak that never appears to improve. Street Fighter, Tomb Raider, Hitman, House of the Dead, Max Payne, Ratchet and Clank, Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, each one were critical box office failures. Resident Evil is disliked by many gamers, but still manages to be the only video game movie adaptation that’s a box office draw. Despite the terrible track record, people still think good movies could be made from video games, believing the right casting could make it a hit. The release of Assassin’s Creed didn’t disappoint the naysayers.
Abstergo is a mysterious genetics corporation, who created cutting-edge technology that allows a person to go return to the past and genetically place them inside the mind/memories of their ancestor. Callum Lynch (Michael Fassbender) experiences the memories of his ancestor, Aguilar de Nerha (Aguilar of Nerha), in 15th Century Spain. Callum discovers he is descendant from a mysterious secret society, the Assassins and Templars. Abstergo needs Callum to find an item that only his 15th century relative has knowledge of. On paper (or in game form), this idea sounds like a unique and creative concept (very similar to Source Code, actually). The fight scenes were spot on! Actually, the cast and the fight choreography was amazing! Unfortunately, it is there that the positive qualities of the movie abruptly end. Assassin’s Creed is a jarring, sluggish action/sci-fi film that fails to use any of its actors or ideas, in ways that would make the audience care about what’s going on.
Once Callum is in the 15th century, things are entertaining, not amazing or impressive or even engaging, but it is entertaining. It’s like watching a low-budget, fan-created film, with action sequences that are hyper-stylized, but produced with a professional editing software system that happens to feature Michael Fassbender. Fassbender, who is a fantastic actor, couldn’t save this script if it came with a life preserver. Admittedly, the action sequence was fun, but the scenes of the cryptically cliché, evil organization was too obvious. It was like the writers borrowed from Peter Anspach’s Evil Overlord List. How else could a company so painfully obvious could develop intelligent and advanced technology?
In other words, it’s like you’re working out on a treadmill on high-speed settings—the power goes out and everything just stops. It takes you out of any enjoyment you were having; and it slows everything down to a crawl. This action succeeds in crippling a potentially good film. It’s obvious Assassin’s Creed works better as a video game than a movie. Perhaps a television series would have been better. This would be a great fit for Netflix. In short, all video games should be tested on Netflix before moving to the silver screen. Why Netflix? Netflix produces amazing original movies and series. People expect this type of movie to be on a small screen.
Don’t just take my word for it. Metacritic gave it a 36%. Rotten Tomatoes gave it 17%. IMDB gave it a 6.4 out of 10. To date, Assassin’s Creed hasn’t met it’s 125 million USD budget. It has only reached 95.2 million USD, since its December 21, 2016 release. If you want to see it, wait for the DVD release!
Editor’s Note: Assassin’s Creed is rated PG-13. It is now available on DVD Netflix. If you’re a fan (or not) of the game, you may appreciate this simply because of Michael Fassbender. Yeah, yeah . . . video games don’t crossover well to cinema. Also, you may pick it a part because it doesn’t feed expectations. I know, I know . . . but it’s still good movie fun!
Movie Rating: 3 stars.
Movie Ratings Guide
1 Star = Unwatchable
2 Stars = Cannot Recommend
3 Stars = Will Watch Again (For the Fans)
4 Stars = A Solid Movie
5 Stars = Must Own (DVD/Stream Download)
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