From Fox: "Through a revolutionary technology that unlocks his genetic memories, Callum Lynch (Michael Fassbender) experiences the adventures of his ancestor, Aguilar, in 15th Century Spain. Callum discovers he is descended from a mysterious secret society, the Assassins, and amasses incredible knowledge and skills to take on the oppressive and powerful Templar organization in the present day."
I have never played the Assassin's
Creed video games, but they seem to involve playing as the member of
this order, trying to accomplish tasks for a great good in the Past.
The movie spends a great deal of its
running time in modern times for reasons of explaining what the
mysterious organization is looking for and for Callum Lynch (Michael
Fassbender). Many times. TOO many times. You learn about the
Assassins, their enemies and their goal in an opening title card...
and minutes later in the 15th century... and then again in
modern times. And the film really couldn't have made me care less about it.
It seems
to suffer from not trying to set up a world as much as set up a
franchise. World-building and franchise-building are entirely
different things. Pushing ideas and mysteries that won't be solved in
the film your watching, but in a later movie. Sadly, this situation
comes up far too often in movies as of late.
The movie meanders for the most part, with no great interest sustaining any forward momentum. That is the real crime in an action movie that features so much live stunt work and parkour, and drains the life of it. There is one sequence that wakes the movie up, involving the assassins having to flee through a Spanish city. By far, the high point of the film's action scenes.
WORTH PAYING: Afternoon Theater prices... if you are a fan of Assassin's Creed games. Otherwise, when it hits Pay cable channels in a few months..
ASSASSIN'S CREED
(1 hr 55 min)
NOTE: There is no post-credits scene.