I saw 'ASSASSIN'S CREED' with my fifteen year old lad at my local multiplex on the day of its Australian release, and despite the largely damning Reviews that this latest video game adaptation to the big screen has so far received, I sat in a near full theatre with a mostly male audience of all ages. The hugely popular action adventure video game upon which this film is based first appeared on our gaming consoles back in 2007 courtesy of Ubisoft. Wikipedia describes the premise as being set in a fictional history of real-world events and follows the centuries-old struggle between the Assassins, who fight for peace with free will, and the Templars, who desire peace through control, and their indirect relation to an ancient species pre-dating humanity, whose society, along with much of Earth's biosphere, was destroyed by a massive solar storm. The games feature predominantly a Desmond Miles, a bartender in the present day who is a descendant of several lines of prominent Assassins. Since its early days Assassins Creed has grown into a series of nine main games and a number of supporting games too. There have also been a number of short animated films, comics, novels, graphic novels and even an Encyclopedia. The games have sold approaching 100 million copies, and so conversion to the big screen seems like a logical step. And so kick starting 2017, we have a film, based on that game, Directed by Justin Kurzel and Co-Produced and starring in the lead role, Michael Fassbender. The film was made for US$125M and has so far taken US$49M since its release in the US and France just before Christmas.
The film starts off in 1492 somewhere in Spain where a group of gathered assassins are swearing in Aguilar de Nerha to pledge his undying allegiance to their secret group of deadly assassins who for centuries have fought against the Templar Order. We then fast track to 1986 somewhere in California where a young lad is riding through the dust and dirt on his bike, and arriving home is confronted by his newly murdered mother sat at the kitchen table, with blood still pouring down her arm from a recently inflicted knife wound to the neck. Looking on is the lads father who tells the boy, Callum, that his mother needed to die and for him to run and hide as the Police come bearing down outside. We then jump thirty years forward to 2016, and that young lad, Callum Lynch (Michael Fassbender) now grown up is on Death Row for murdering a Pimp. He is visited by a Priest to give him some last moments of solace and to seek forgiveness for his crime, before he is shackled up and led to his execution. At 6:00pm exactly the lethal injections are administered, as Lynch sits strapped to his bench, nervously awaiting for those injections to have their lasting effect.
The next day and Lynch wakes up in a clinical room gazing into the eyes of Dr. Sophia Rikkin (Marion Cotillard) in the Madrid headquarters of Abstergo Industries - the modern day incarnation of the Templar Order, headed up by her father as CEO, Allan Rikkin (Jeremy Irons). Sophia explains who she is, what he is doing here and why he was rescued. She reveals to Lynch that he is descended from a long line of Assassins that for centuries fought against the Templar Order, and that he is directly related to Aguilar de Nerha (also payed by Michael Fassbender) - a 15th Century Spanish Assassin. Dr. Rikkin proposes that Lynch be hooked up to revolutionary new technology that they have developed - The Animus - that allows him to travel back in time to 15th Century Spain by unlocking genetic memories contained in his DNA. The purpose of sending Lynch back is to locate the missing 'Apple of Eden' which was last seen by Aguilar de Nerha back in the late 15th Century. This ancient artefact seeded the first sin of mans disobedience, and as a result led to all the violence in the world - a plague which the Templars are keen to eradicate and subjugate the human race and therefore end such corruption.
And so initially Lynch is forced into The Animus against his will and travels back to 1492, albeit not physically, but mentally and emotionally through unlocked memories. There he comes to blows with The Templars who have kidnapped the Prince Ahmed de Granada in an attempt to coerce his father the Sultan Muhammad to give up the Apple of Eden which he has in his possession. Needless to say the resulting chariot chase doesn't go quite according to plan as Templars and Assassins clash leaving Aguilar dangling over a cliff edge clinging onto the young Prince for dear life with. At which point The Animus is switched off, bringing Lynch back to the here and now.
In between resting up and recovering from his experiences in The Animus Lynch gets to know others in the Abstergo facility - the majority of whom seem to be other descendants of former assassins. Lynch has one on one sessions with Sophia in which the pair get to know each other, and Sophia reveals who her father is and that her mother was killed in similar circumstances to his own. Meanwhile Allan Rikkin has to report to the elders who fund his research facility to the tune of US$3B a year, headed up by Ellen Kaye (Charlotte Rampling) who advises Rikkin that funding will cease and the project pulled due to apparent lack of success. At which point Rikkin reveals he is close to retrieving the Apple of Eden but needs a little more time, putting pressure on Sophia to fast-track Lynch into The Animus again, despite the dangers associated with it.
Back in The Animus and Aguilar and his partner Maria (Ariane Labed) are scheduled for execution by being burned alive at the stake for their crimes against the strict beliefs of The Templars. They manage to escape and what ensues is an impressive and well executed roof top foot chase involving parkour techniques that would make any such aficionado swoon, whilst thwarting numerous enemy foot soldiers with close quarter hand to hand combat involving spears, knives, bows and flying fists and feet. Cornered the chase comes to halt with Aguilar and Maria performing a huge 'leap of faith' from a roof top tower to escape their enemy, at which point Lynch is extracted for The Animus.
This time Lynch goes voluntarily into The Animus to finish what he started. There Aguilar and Maria ambush a meeting where the Sultan Muhammad is about to hand over the Apple of Eden to The Templars in exchange for his sons life. A fight breaks out resulting in Maria's death, but Aguilar has in his possession the Apple of Eden. He escapes by taking another 'leap of faith' off a bridge. He resurfaces later on in Cadiz where he hands over the Apple of Eden to a staunch supporter of the Assassins, Christopher Columbus, where he vows to take the artefact to his grave to keep it safe. Fast forward five hundred years and armed with this knowledge the Rikkin's deduce that the Apple of Eden is buried with Columbus in his crypt, and so retrieve it!
Now back out of The Animus Lynch hallucinates about his mother and his ancestors all dressed in full Assassin attire, and this gives him a new found confidence about his lineage and his newly acquired skills and abilities assimilated from Aguilar. With his fellow associates now all ready to over throw the Templars Abstergo facility, they do so and ultimately converge on The Templars sanctuary in London where Rikkin is to be honoured for retrieving the Apple of Eden, and where its powers will be unlocked finally. Despite her scientific contribution to The Animus, Sophia is overlooked by Ellen Kaye at this time of glory in favour of her father, but is told 'your time will come'! As The Assassins all gather at The Templars sanctuary for the big reveal, Lynch confronts Sophia who has become disillusioned with her fathers beliefs. Knowing the reason why Lynch is there, she does nothing to stop him, culminating with Rikkin bleeding out on the floor with a knife wound to the throat, The Apple of Eden back in the hands of The Assassins, and The Templars fleeing in fright.
'Assassin's Creed' has received generally negative feedback which for film that boasts big name Hollywood stars - Fassbender, Cotillard, Gleeson and Irons, with the former also Co-Producing and a US$125M budget is a little surprising. On the plus side the action set pieces are well rendered, fast paced, inventive and well shot. The imagery too within the Abstergo facility is believable, and the scenic shots of 15th Century Spain are well delivered and help to enhance the look and feel of the film. On the minus side however, the action is very video game oriented, and the performances of the lead cast are a little dull, with Cotillard, Irons and Gleeson especially seemingly phoning in their roles from their on set trailers! The plot is confusing at times and The Apple of Eden is a simple McGuffin to advance the story beyond well choreographed fight scenes, chase sequences and solid visuals. However, all style over substance! The thumping soundtrack too by Jed Kurzel, the brother of the Director is at times deafening to the detriment of the action which it accompanies. A franchise is in the offing, with a second film already in the early stages of development - it had better be an improvement on this first one is all I will add.
-Steve, at Odeon Online-
