Assassin's Creed (Justin Kurzel)

[TGM]

ASSASSIN'S CREED

Director: Justin Kurzel

imdb

[TGM]

Yeah, this was pretty bad. The story makes absolutely no god damn sense, and it's probably just as well that we spend only maybe 15% of the movie in the past, as those sections are an absolute bore, just the most tedious extended action sequences that just go on and on and on and become mind numbing and monotonous.

And it's a shame, because you can tell that a lot of effort was put into filming these sequences in a very stylized manner. Yet that style gets all sorts of butchered up with its quick cut editing that makes the whole thing come across as a mostly incomprehensible mess.

So yeah, this was a boring chore of a movie that, again, makes no god damn sense whatsoever. But it sure does look pretty at times, though!

[[ETM]]

Funny, I liked the past sequences the most.

[Thirdmango]

Most people seemed to hate this and yet I like it quite a bit. The first half hour was a little boring but once the action scene hit I was into it the rest of the way. It was also really nice to have a long action scene with little to no shaky cam. I could follow things without getting sick. It was really nice.

[Stay Puft]

Not bad, I suppose, as far as being an Assassin's Creed movie goes... but Assassin's Creed is pretty fucking stupid, and that's all I could think about while watching the story unfold (it's also disappointingly mundane, because it omits all of the really stupid, silly stuff from the games). My relationship with Assassin's Creed has always been love/hate, so I'm not surprised I feel similarly about the movie, but I also feel there were some serious missed opportunities here. The best part of the games is walking around and exploring historical cities, so the fact that Spain is seen so little in the film is kinda lame. Also, the best plots always involve the historical settings, so the structure of this film (story development largely happens in the present, and trips to ancient Spain via the Animus are basically just there for the action beats) was doubly disappointing. This also means the Spanish scenes have no intrigue beyond technical merits, as we barely have time to learn anything about the politics, or characters, or what have you. The games became popular because of characters like Ezio; the "present day" scenes were a framing device to provide franchise continuity across disparate locations and stories. It's a clever concept, but flipping it on its head for a movie just doesn't have the same appeal, even if I can understand the reasons behind it (focus on characters who can carry forward in a movie franchise, setting up the basic Templar/Assassins conflict). It doesn't instill a lot of faith for Ubisoft's other film projects, but I guess we'll see...

Kinda weird that this is what the guy who directed The Snowtown Murders is doing now.

[Ivan Drago]

When this was going into pre-production, I hoped it would be another attempt at an artsy blockbuster, and they were reasonable given the elements already at play: a very attractive and prestigious cast along with a director who burst onto the arthouse scene recently with a dark and minimalist film adaptation of Macbeth (which is VERY overlooked). Then the less-than-stellar reviews for it came out, and I had to temper my expectations, but went into it thinking it would at least be an ambitious mess (because when aren't those interesting?). . .unfortunately, this is just a straight-up mess. Although the cinematography and set pieces are great to look at (every scene in the psych ward in particular is pretty and has something interesting going on visually), everything in the present day moves at a glacial pace while the action sequences in the past are paced so quick they’re hard to follow, the minimalist performances that worked so well in MacBeth sadly don’t work here because the actors literally do almost nothing, the characters are flat and devoid of personality, the third act of the story devolves into a downright confusing head scratcher, and HOW MANY TIMES ARE WE GOING TO SEE THE SAME FREAKING HAWK FLY AROUND THE SAME FREAKING CASTLE IN THE SAME FREAKING DRONE SHOT??? In summation, I’m still longing for the day when art and commerce can fuse into something amazing on the silver screen, and for the first ever genuinely good movie adaptation of a video game, because Assassin’s Creed failed to deliver in almost every single facet.

[Dukefrukem]

Not bad, I suppose, as far as being an Assassin's Creed movie goes... but Assassin's Creed is pretty fucking stupid, and that's all I could think about while watching the story unfold (it's also disappointingly mundane, because it omits all of the really stupid, silly stuff from the games). My relationship with Assassin's Creed has always been love/hate, so I'm not surprised I feel similarly about the movie, but I also feel there were some serious missed opportunities here. The best part of the games is walking around and exploring historical cities, so the fact that Spain is seen so little in the film is kinda lame. Also, the best plots always involve the historical settings, so the structure of this film (story development largely happens in the present, and trips to ancient Spain via the Animus are basically just there for the action beats) was doubly disappointing. This also means the Spanish scenes have no intrigue beyond technical merits, as we barely have time to learn anything about the politics, or characters, or what have you. The games became popular because of characters like Ezio; the "present day" scenes were a framing device to provide franchise continuity across disparate locations and stories. It's a clever concept, but flipping it on its head for a movie just doesn't have the same appeal, even if I can understand the reasons behind it (focus on characters who can carry forward in a movie franchise, setting up the basic Templar/Assassins conflict). It doesn't instill a lot of faith for Ubisoft's other film projects, but I guess we'll see...

Kinda weird that this is what the guy who directed The Snowtown Murders is doing now.

I can't tell if you've actually played the game, because IMO this franchise would have made an excellent movie (or series of movies). They just left out the two most important aspect of the franchise.

[Dukefrukem]

Always a bad sign when hard rock begins playing over your title sequence in the middle of a 15th century setup scene. Full disclosure: I am a huge fan of this game franchise. The Ezio Trilogy is some great work in gaming. It's a wonderful way to include the art from the past, with technology of the present, all while an underlining lore surrounds everyone. That being said, the Hollywood butchering of the Animus is some lazy shit. Did they think it would resemble the Matrix too closely if they just had Callum lie on a table? They had to have him simulate every move just as it happened?

Too much of this movie takes place in the present. To little of the lore is explained. The action, though stylized at points, is mostly generic and boring. What really disrupts the action is the constant cutting back and forth between the Animus and in the past. Why edit like this? We know he's in the Animus, you do not need to keep reminding us.

The assassin's creed, literally the creed the entire franchise is barely discussed; other than some vague dialog in the third act that reveals more than one Assassin. What they are protecting and why. Why the Templar's are evil? Why do the security guards run directly at the assassin's with police batons while the assassin's are armed with bows, staffs and swords?

Fassbender is fine I guess. Cotillard is fine. Jeremy Irons is doing his best bad guy since Die Hard.

And finally, spoiler if you haven't played the games [

Show Spoiler

there isn't one mention of the cataclysm, or the beings that are trying to protect Earth from said cataclysm,

] who are also responsible for the Apple and it's intended purpose.

[Morris Schæffer]

Can Justin Kurzel make movies that aren't relentlessly, depressingly boring? I can tell they wanted to do right by this franchise, such is the level of seriousness on offer, but where's the fun?

Also, blood. Or lack thereof. Assassin's Creed. Through the veil of time, Temple of Doom looks at Assassin's Creed and weeps for what has become of the PG-13 rating.