Being the last game based movie of the year, it had a lot riding on its shoulder. Coming from Ubisoft’s one of the most celebrated franchise, Assassin’s Creed movie decided to use the Spanish Inquisition storyline which showcases the video game’s narrative but has its own original plot line going on. And director Justin Kurzel manages to deliver if not a brilliant work but a movie which has in it to attract few fans who are new to the Creed’s world.
“Violence is a disease like cancer, it needs to be cured”
This line gists what the entire movie revolves around. The movie opens with Callum Lynch (Michael Fassbender) being rescued by Abstergo Industries from his execution as he’s a convicted criminal. At Abstergo Industries, he learns about the Templar and Assassins, their fight and the search by Abstergo for the Apple of Eden. It’s been said that Apple of Eden would enable Templar conquer the world with complete and total obedience, leaving no free will – leading to no violence as no one will ever know the importance of freedom. Freedom – something which Assassin’s truly believe in.
How Lynch is an important part of this mission? Lynch is a descendent of Aguilar de Nerha, a member of the secret order of assassins which for centuries have opposed the Templar Order (Abstergo – the present day incarnation of Templar Order) and has hidden the Apple. His DNA is the only way through which the Apple could be discovered. By the works of Dr. Sophia Rikkin (Marion Cotillard) under the project Animus, she created a machine which allows people to relive their descendant’s memories – over here Lynch to de Nerha’s.
The movie spins around the Spanish inquisition time, the intentions of Abstergo’s CEO Alan Rikkin (Jeremy Irons), the relationship between Sophia Rikkin and her father Alan Rikkin, Lynch syncing with his descendant’s memory and the war between Assassins and Templars.
Certain dialogues caught my attention like “Progress requires sacrifice”, “We work in the darkness to serve the light. We are Assassin’s”, “Now I am become the death, the destroyer of world’s” and “I did it. Lynch, I will find him”. With high-octane action sequences, cool weapons and the visual imagery, the movie ventures you into the subliminal world of the present and the past era.
The scenes wherein we can observe the Spanish Inquisition era (1492) in the Abstergo Industries room, the creation of the whole city, hallucinations by Lynch, the action sequences have been well created. Overall the movie has a game feel attached to it and VFX supervisor Ged Wright did a good job in bringing both the eras to life. The VFX houses who worked on the movie are Double Negative, Cinesite, One of Us, Image Engine and Raynault VFX.
Portrayed as Maria, an assassin in 15th century Spain – Ariane Labed, Michael Fassbender and Michael K. Williams as Moussa and Baptiste deserves an acknowledgement for their performances.
The franchise has all the right ingredients to make a good movie – rich storyline, action sequences and characters. However, the movie isn’t something that will leave a mark on the audience. We would like to see its sequel, hoping that it has a lot more to offer in terms of a strong screenplay, storyline and music.
Directed by Justin Kurzel, produced by Jean-Julien Baronnet, Gérard Guillemot, Frank Marshall, Patrick Crowley, Michael Fassbender, Conor McCaughan and screenplay by Michael Lesslie, Adam Cooper, Bill Collage, Assassin’s Creed released in the USA on 21 December and in India on 30 December, 2016.
Verdict: Assassin’s Creed might intrigue a fresher to the Ubisoft’s game franchise with its decent storyline and can be witnessed once on big screens.
