Rikkin

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 15^th 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.

Fassbender, Marion Cotillard, and Jeremy Irons try their best and elevate the exposition heavy dialogue into to something isn't completely heavy-handed. Fassbender get the most interesting part, switching between modern times as Callum and his 15^th century past as Aguilar. But Callum & Aguilar's characters are given the most basic of reasons to exist and little to connect with the audience. The opposition is an organization with no strong character to be the face of it, in either the 15^th Century or the present, as I don't see Irons' Rikkin standing a chance against Callum.

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.

Sadly, there's nothing driving the movie forward. Nothing in the story, the characters, and the action sequences have a sense of urgency. So I'm left, as the credits rolled, feeling that, “Well, that was a movie.” This will come across as another failed video game adaption that failed, which is too bad. There was potential here with a stronger creative hand in control.

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.