Assassin's Creed - directed by Justin Kurzel
For the second time in as many days I took in a movie that has had less than stellar reviews but that I was nonetheless pretty excited for.
And again I went in casting the reviews aside and with the hope that I would be entertained.
My excitement for this one was based on a few things.
Firstly I am a huge fan of Marion Cotillard and have been a pretty major fan of Michael Fassbender's since the underrated "Centurion".
Also, I quite like the Assassin's Creed games with Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag being a particular favourite.
Toss in a bit of Jeremy Irons, Charlotte Rampling and Brendan Gleeson and I am geared up for this.
For those not familiar with the games the movie pretty closely follows the general plot idea.
A company called Abstergo Industries has a facility in which descendants of historical figures can connect with memories from centuries ago to relive events via a sort of virtual reality device called the Animus.
The nifty conceit is that blood (DNA) carries all memories down through the generations and if you can link to the specific point in time you can connect to those events.
Abstergo want to obtain information as to the whereabouts of the Apple of Eden - the mythical bit of fruit that Adam and Eve partook of that 'seeded the first sin' and brought about free will.
Titles tell us that the Knights Templar have been seeking the apple for centuries and are opposed by the Assassin's Creed.
The apple represents free will but given that that apparently leads to us all being rowdy and violent Abstergo/the Templars believe that by obtaining it they can end all violence by ending free will itself.
The opening scene shows us this conflict playing out for real in 1492 Spain.
An assassin named Aguilar has fingers removed to make way for his hidden blade and swears an oath to preserve the Creed.
Aguilar is the ancestor of Michael Fassbender's Callum Lynch who we first see as a youngster in 1986 attempting to stunt jump his BMX bike from a roof.
He goes home to find his Father sporting a bloodied blade beside his recently killed Mother.
Flash forward and the grown up Callum is about to be executed for killing a pimp.
Of course he isn't really killed and wakes to find himself at the Abstergo facility under the 'care' of Marion Cotillard's Sophia Rikkin.
It is here that he will use the Animus to re-live the history of Aguilar who apparently knows the hiding place of the Apple of Eden.
Now as much as the plot follows the games quite well it does take the first of a few little departures in the handling of the Animus.
Rather than the flat on your back on a gurney method used in Ubisoft's hit games the movie has Fassbender installed into a huge mechanical arm that enables him to move exactly as he/Aguilar does in his re-enactments.
I know some people have taken issue with this but for me not only is it a very minor change but cinematically it makes sense.
The plot requires Cotillard's character to know what Callum is doing and this is an effective device to enable this.
Also it is far more enjoyable than watching Fassbender lying on his back twitching and writhing I would think!
The other concern raised and one that I shared was that the movie would be mostly present day Abstergo and not a lot of 1492 Spain.
This is a valid concern for anyone who has played the games which are great fun until you have to spend time in a modern office block (don't get me started!)
But here's the thing.... movies aren't games.
Movies based on videogames don't have a glowing history and for me the reason often is that they are damned if they do, damned if they don't.
Stories told via the medium of games are a different beast to those told via film and if stuck too closely to the danger is that the translation is a poor fit.
Stray too far and you distance the hardcore game fans and/or make a movie that doesn't even feel like it is related to the source material.
So striking a balance is tough.
I give a lot of credit to "Assassin's Creed" the movie for doing that very thing even though it spends about two thirds of its time in the present day.
I didn't mind a bit as it introduced a lot of really good ideas about free will and the state of humanity and its long history of violence.
Now there is a very serious movie to be made out of these ideas and this is certainly not it but I like that it has these ideas on its mind and uses them as the very core of the conflict between the Templars and the Assassins.
As to the entertainment in both timezones there is no doubt that the 1492 Assassin stuff is definitely the highlight.
Director Kurzel shoots the scenes in 1492 Spain as awash in smoke and dust almost as if the finer detail is not available to the memories that Callum has.
It gives the action a fitting style too with lots of swooping camera shots down into the action and of course some great leap of faith and assassination action.
As for the present of course there isn't quite the same level of action but an awful lot of plot is stuffed into these scenes.
With Cotillard, Fassbender and Irons delivering the exposition I found it pretty damned entertaining.
Of course it is all very silly and you can probably spot most of the key plot point coming (in no small part die to the trailers to be fair) but I liked both timeframes and indeed the movie on the whole.
Two of the three credited screenwriters (Cooper and Collage) both wrote "Tower Heist", "Exodus: Gods and Kings" and "Allegiant" but don't let this put you off!!
This movie is a lot of fun, possesses some very good ideas, a nice style and is altogether a step up from most movies based on videogames.
Like the game series that it is based on this movie loves history and there is a lot of good stuff here.
It is layered with some pure fantasy but it is work in the context of the story being told and the sort of movie that it is trying to be.
The casting of course helps a lot and although Michael Kenneth Williams and Brendan Gleeson don't get much screen time the three principal actors are damned good.
Of course Irons is the bad guy- we know that from the first simmering look of malice laden purpose from him.
Cotillard's Sophie on the other hand is far more vague in her intentions.
The scenes between she and Callum are nicely done even though they are pure, obvious exposition.
Also there is a nice role here for Denis Menochet.
If he looks familiar it is probably due to his role as Shosanna's farmer Father in "Inglourious Basterds" great opening scene.
The $125,000,000 production budget is up there on the screen and the film looks good.
It has some work to do to recoup that money and I hope that it does.
The recreations of 1400's Spain are superb and when the action kicks it is kinetic and plentiful.
Fassbender's 1492 co-Assassin played by Ariane Labed looks the part too and some of her moves dispatching enemies are terrific in the extended action piece that makes up the bulk of the pre-release trailers.
My advice on this film is go in with no thoughts of past videogame movies failures and just have fun with it.
Maybe it helps to be a fan of the games in this instance - I don't know.
Fassbender had no knowledge of the videogame movie 'curse' years ago when he first met with the Ubisoft crew to talk about doing the movie.
He has given this his all both in front and behind the camera.
Hopefully both he and Ubisoft are happy with the end result and this movie is successful enough to get the sequel(s) that it is clearly intended to enable.
RATING: 76 / 100
CONCLUSION: Fun with some interesting ideas. The action scenes are great and the movie on the whole looks stunning. It is clear that this film is intended to spawn sequels and I really hope that it does.
Starring: Michael Fassbender, Marion Cotillard, Jeremy Irons, Charlotte Rampling, Brendan Gleeson, Michael Kenneth Williams, Essie Davis, Khalid Abdalia, Ariane Labed, Denis Menochet, Carlos Bardem, Callum Turner, Matias Varela, Alexander Cooper
Screenplay: Michael Lesslie, Adam Cooper & Bill Collage
Music Score by: Jed Kurzel
Cinematography: Adam Arkapaw
Edited by: Christopher Tellefson
Running Time: 115 minutes
Language: English
Rated: M - Violence - frequent blood largely bloodless
Running Time: 115 minutes
Language: English
Rated: M - Violence - frequent blood largely bloodless
And again I went in casting the reviews aside and with the hope that I would be entertained.
My excitement for this one was based on a few things.
Firstly I am a huge fan of Marion Cotillard and have been a pretty major fan of Michael Fassbender's since the underrated "Centurion".
Also, I quite like the Assassin's Creed games with Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag being a particular favourite.
Toss in a bit of Jeremy Irons, Charlotte Rampling and Brendan Gleeson and I am geared up for this.
For those not familiar with the games the movie pretty closely follows the general plot idea.
A company called Abstergo Industries has a facility in which descendants of historical figures can connect with memories from centuries ago to relive events via a sort of virtual reality device called the Animus.
The nifty conceit is that blood (DNA) carries all memories down through the generations and if you can link to the specific point in time you can connect to those events.
Abstergo want to obtain information as to the whereabouts of the Apple of Eden - the mythical bit of fruit that Adam and Eve partook of that 'seeded the first sin' and brought about free will.
Titles tell us that the Knights Templar have been seeking the apple for centuries and are opposed by the Assassin's Creed.
The apple represents free will but given that that apparently leads to us all being rowdy and violent Abstergo/the Templars believe that by obtaining it they can end all violence by ending free will itself.
The opening scene shows us this conflict playing out for real in 1492 Spain.
An assassin named Aguilar has fingers removed to make way for his hidden blade and swears an oath to preserve the Creed.
Aguilar is the ancestor of Michael Fassbender's Callum Lynch who we first see as a youngster in 1986 attempting to stunt jump his BMX bike from a roof.
He goes home to find his Father sporting a bloodied blade beside his recently killed Mother.
Flash forward and the grown up Callum is about to be executed for killing a pimp.
Of course he isn't really killed and wakes to find himself at the Abstergo facility under the 'care' of Marion Cotillard's Sophia Rikkin.
It is here that he will use the Animus to re-live the history of Aguilar who apparently knows the hiding place of the Apple of Eden.
 |
| 15th Century Spain looks great |
Rather than the flat on your back on a gurney method used in Ubisoft's hit games the movie has Fassbender installed into a huge mechanical arm that enables him to move exactly as he/Aguilar does in his re-enactments.
I know some people have taken issue with this but for me not only is it a very minor change but cinematically it makes sense.
The plot requires Cotillard's character to know what Callum is doing and this is an effective device to enable this.
Also it is far more enjoyable than watching Fassbender lying on his back twitching and writhing I would think!
The other concern raised and one that I shared was that the movie would be mostly present day Abstergo and not a lot of 1492 Spain.
This is a valid concern for anyone who has played the games which are great fun until you have to spend time in a modern office block (don't get me started!)
But here's the thing.... movies aren't games.
Movies based on videogames don't have a glowing history and for me the reason often is that they are damned if they do, damned if they don't.
Stories told via the medium of games are a different beast to those told via film and if stuck too closely to the danger is that the translation is a poor fit.
Stray too far and you distance the hardcore game fans and/or make a movie that doesn't even feel like it is related to the source material.
So striking a balance is tough.
I give a lot of credit to "Assassin's Creed" the movie for doing that very thing even though it spends about two thirds of its time in the present day.
I didn't mind a bit as it introduced a lot of really good ideas about free will and the state of humanity and its long history of violence.
Now there is a very serious movie to be made out of these ideas and this is certainly not it but I like that it has these ideas on its mind and uses them as the very core of the conflict between the Templars and the Assassins.
As to the entertainment in both timezones there is no doubt that the 1492 Assassin stuff is definitely the highlight.
 |
| The scenes in present day are good also and benefit from the superb cast |
It gives the action a fitting style too with lots of swooping camera shots down into the action and of course some great leap of faith and assassination action.
As for the present of course there isn't quite the same level of action but an awful lot of plot is stuffed into these scenes.
With Cotillard, Fassbender and Irons delivering the exposition I found it pretty damned entertaining.
Of course it is all very silly and you can probably spot most of the key plot point coming (in no small part die to the trailers to be fair) but I liked both timeframes and indeed the movie on the whole.
Two of the three credited screenwriters (Cooper and Collage) both wrote "Tower Heist", "Exodus: Gods and Kings" and "Allegiant" but don't let this put you off!!
This movie is a lot of fun, possesses some very good ideas, a nice style and is altogether a step up from most movies based on videogames.
Like the game series that it is based on this movie loves history and there is a lot of good stuff here.
It is layered with some pure fantasy but it is work in the context of the story being told and the sort of movie that it is trying to be.
The casting of course helps a lot and although Michael Kenneth Williams and Brendan Gleeson don't get much screen time the three principal actors are damned good.
Of course Irons is the bad guy- we know that from the first simmering look of malice laden purpose from him.
Cotillard's Sophie on the other hand is far more vague in her intentions.
The scenes between she and Callum are nicely done even though they are pure, obvious exposition.
Also there is a nice role here for Denis Menochet.
If he looks familiar it is probably due to his role as Shosanna's farmer Father in "Inglourious Basterds" great opening scene.
The $125,000,000 production budget is up there on the screen and the film looks good.
It has some work to do to recoup that money and I hope that it does.
The recreations of 1400's Spain are superb and when the action kicks it is kinetic and plentiful.
Fassbender's 1492 co-Assassin played by Ariane Labed looks the part too and some of her moves dispatching enemies are terrific in the extended action piece that makes up the bulk of the pre-release trailers.
My advice on this film is go in with no thoughts of past videogame movies failures and just have fun with it.
Maybe it helps to be a fan of the games in this instance - I don't know.
Fassbender had no knowledge of the videogame movie 'curse' years ago when he first met with the Ubisoft crew to talk about doing the movie.
He has given this his all both in front and behind the camera.
Hopefully both he and Ubisoft are happy with the end result and this movie is successful enough to get the sequel(s) that it is clearly intended to enable.
No comments:
Post a Comment