While the rest of the planet lined up at midnight to watch
the latest installment in the Star Wars saga, I impatiently waited for the
release of the first ever Assassin’sCreed movie. Even if I was more than a little anxious about it. The studio
behind it has a track record of ruining our favorite things *cough* Firefly *cough* Fantastic Four. So
yeah, I was apprehensive, if excited.
Wow. Way to knock it
out the park folks!
This movie was one
of the best game-to-big-screen adaptations I’ve ever seen. The success of this film has a
lot to do with the team that made it. Justin Kurzel is the visionary director
behind one of the most stunning imaginings of Shakespeare’s Macbeth that’s ever hit the screen. The
producing team is made up some of the best producers of action in the
business including Frank Marshall (seriously... he produced all of the Jason Bourne movies, all of the Indiana
Jones movies, and all of the Back to the
Future movies- dude knows his way around a movie set), Patrick Crowley (all of
the Jason Bourne movies, Jurassic World) and Arnon Milchan (Fight Club, Gone Girl, 12 Years a Slave).
Not to mention the dynamic re-pairing of
Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard.
Suffice it to say
they have a REAL A-Team. But we all know that the tech side alone does not a
movie make. For Assassin’s Creed, there are two very different and difficult
worlds that have to meld seamlessly. First, there is the world we live in today, our
present reality for both view and gamer. Then there is the past, a world only accessible
through a piece of technology that allows us to relive the lives of our
ancestors through our DNA memory called the Animus. In a videogame, it is very
simple to suspend disbelief and just go with the story no matter how crazy. But
in a movie, you have to make the audience believe in the impossible.
They started with
this incredible (real!) Leap of Faith, one of the most stunning visual points
of the game. They used it well too, using it to transfer us from real world to the past and introduce us to the breathtaking horizons of ancient Spain. It also takes pains demonstrating how in world where you can’t
regenerate if your game glitches, the leap of faith may actually kill you. One of the more
difficult challenges would be to show an audience who has never played the game how the Animus actually changes the
person and allows them to access skills of their ancestors by sinking them with
the DNA memory.
It was brilliantly done with a combination of ghosting visual effects
and real-time interaction from Michael Fassbender, who was also a producer for the film.
And, unlike many American made movies that take place in distant lands, when in
1492 Spain they speak only Spanish. Some folks may not appreciate that, but what I
like about it is that it is exactly like the game. Ubisoft takes great pains to be as historically accurate as possible, and it shows in this movie. Oh! And keep an eye out for the zillion little Easter eggs that refer to other storylines in the actual game. I saw at least 10.
So while the hater-critis over on Rotten Tomatoes have given it an 18% as of this writing, the
audience is rating it 74%. Listen to the real people, they know what’s up for
this movie.
