Assassin's Creed (2016)

'Assassin's Creed' is based upon the popular video game series and stars Michael Fassbender as Callum Lynch, a man whose death is falsified and he is sent to Abstergo Industries who hope to obtain a lost artifact using the genetic memories of Callum whose ancestor belonged to an ancient group known as 'The Brotherhood of Assassins'. The film's issues begin as soon as the film starts with an opening text crawl explaining the backstory of the games. This technique is not only lazy filmmaking and a personal pet peeve of mine, but it also is for the most part the main exposition behind the film other than a scene here or there. This will leave many audience members who are not familiar with the video game's backstory confused and frustrated with this film adaptation.

The film cuts between modern times and 1492 Spain during the Spanish inquisition with the historical set pieces being by far the most interesting aspect. The action scenes are well choreographed and gets the adrenaline going, however I get the nagging suspicion that they have been heavily toned down and edited in order for a PG-13 rating with quick cuts during the more violent sequences and the sloppy editing throws the pacing off on the otherwise well done sequences. I'll be expecting an 'Unrated' home video version in order to pick up a couple extra coin.

Characters other than protagonist Callum are barely developed and even with the other major character played by the lovely Marion Cotlliard have so little attention paid to them, I seriously forgot their names let alone their motives or feelings. The film is entertaining at the very least no doubt, but with one of the best stories in the video game industry today you and most of the franchise's audience just expects more from a film adaptation especially when the film was supervised and produced by the game's developing company Ubisoft. I recommend a rental or home video purchase with 'Assassin's Creed' but little else. It may be the best video game film so far, but when considering that phrase for a moment one feels depressed at just how low that bar truly is.