Assassin’s Creed [2016] is about Cal Lynch (Michael Fassbender) who lives in a time of revolutionary technology. Through a company called Abstergo, Cal is sent back in time to 15th Century Spain to unlock his genetic history. There, he lives out the life of his ancestor, Aguilar de Nerha, a member of a secret Assassins society who is suspected to have a magic stone called ‘The Apple of Eden’. An opposing organization, called the Templars, are attempting to locate this stone to subjugate humanity. Templar scientist, Dr Sophia Rikkin (Marion Cotillard), saves Cal from execution and hooks him up to a virtual reality like machine called the Animus in which he must relive Aguilar’s life so the Templar’s can discover the whereabouts of the stone. Based on an award-winning game series, this film also stars Jeremy Irons and Brendan Gleeson.
What Happened to the Animus? It can be a little unfair to compare movie adaptions to their games just as we all know that most books are better than movies. In this instance, however, the movie seems to completely miss the point of the game, being set mostly in the modern world rather than in the animus. Overall, the script is very poor and a let-down for fans of the game series. With already such a niche market, one would think the film would have a stronger focus on the skills of stealth and parkour of Aguilar (who this film is supposed to be about) over Cal. The film was also over complicated by turning to the animus into a massive claw machine allowing Cal the space to perform the movements of Aguilar, yet the game animus was a mere chair.
Let Us Talk About the Script. No amount of Oscar nominations can save these actors from a poorly written script. If you played any game within Assassin’s Creed series, you probably agree that this movie was not a good adaption. If you have never played an Assassin’s Creed game, you may not even follow what is happening. The film lacked any character set up and pushed a whole bunch of science jargon down your throat expecting viewers to understand what it all meant and how their theories made logical sense. Additionally, you can’t end a movie on a cliff-hanger if you haven’t built a relationship between viewers and characters. The script was rushed, causing confusion, and the plot was unclear and disjointed.
A Redeeming Quality, Perhaps? As expected of an action movie, there are several fight scenes involved. The action was exciting and well-choreographed, however, that does not make up for the awkward camera angles and movement that made the scenes jarring and awkward to follow. Furthermore, even as this film sets itself up to be (way too) serious, you can’t help but amuse yourself with thoughts of what Cal looks like outside the animus as he plays Aguilar in a violent, thrashing scene.
Sometimes you have to risk it to get this biscuit
but no one is getting a biscuit for this adapted disaster.
