Assassin's Creed

**The curse of video game movies.** Really, there must be some plague or curse on this type of film because the examples that deserve our attention instead of our oblivion are rare. And it doesn't take much digging to find some that are really despicable, unworthy of being seen in a big screen. I had some hope that this movie wasn't that bad, knowing minimally the game (I never had the time or patience to play it, but I read about it and saw some graphics). And really, it's a film that, in the wide spectrum of its genre, has some qualities. However, it is far from being a full plate for lovers of good movies. The best thing about this film are the technical and visual aspects and also the action scenes, with highly stylized choreography and fight routines, unrealistic to the point of sounding very absurd, but incredible. The cinematography is very good, and the film makes incredible use of CGI and digital resources. It seems to me that the director, Justin Kurzel, preferred to turn the film into an orgy of visual graphics than to do a solid job. Excessive attention to visuals has everything from stunning aerial perspective footage to the elaborate sets and environments of the Spain of the Catholic Kings, creatively blended with footage in real settings such as the Alhambra. This leads us to the film's first problem, which is the absurd lack of historical accuracy. Considering it's a movie based on a video game, it's less of an issue, but it's an issue, particularly when taking advantage of the popularity of the Templar Order, which was defunct and outlawed by the Catholic Church in 1312, nearly 250 years before the time of the Catholic Kings. Whoever wrote the script and included this premise probably barbecued their own history school textbooks. The cast is made up of renowned and talented actors, but who have not been given anything substantial. There are no characters, there are names, and the actors seem to be improvising or being themselves in some way. Michael Fassbender plays himself with a hood, since the character is nothing more than a walking cliché with no personality. Marion Cotillard, a great actress, must have been royally paid to accept such rubbish in her curriculum and Jeremy Irons proves to be very capable of making an omelette without eggs, going to resurrect what he has done previously in several villains of his career and mixing everything. What really lets this movie down is the miserable script and poor direction. If we've already talked a little about director Kurzel's apparent fetish for visual effects, we should also talk about the incompetence of the screenwriting team. It would have been better if they had been prevented from writing screenplays. This one is just a giant jumble of confusing ideas involving time travel, genetic memory, futuristic machines, the Inquisition, the Templar's, Columbus, the Catholic Kings of Spain, an Islamic religious sect from Persia and other oddities. The film takes itself too seriously, it is presumptuous and exhausting, and the feeling that hovers over it is existential emptiness, as if there was no reason for any of this.

l would lie if I said that I did not enjoy this movie. It has plenty of action, a bit of biblical mystery and some science fiction. It is a decently entertaining movie. However, I also felt a bit underwhelmed. A less than sympathetic bum happens to be some direct ancestor to an ancient warrior belonging to a ancient secret assassins society protecting the apple of Eden. Since he is a near identical match to his ancestor he is, apparently, an ideal candidate for the evil Knights Templars to unlock ancient “genetic” memories that will help them find the apple. Yes I know, it is a bit of a scientific stretch but hey, it is a fantasy/sci-fi movie and it originates from a video game story so give it some slack. Speaking of the video game. I have not played the game and I have no idea if the movie follows the story of the game or not which probably is a good think for this movie. What I did have a hard time with though is this nonsensical notion of the apple containing the genetic code for “free will”. What a load of bullshit in so many ways! There are a lot of quite good action and fight scenes in the movie. However most of them are flashbacks to the time of Callum’s ancestor and it is not really Callum himself. It is not until the very end of the movie that Callum finally realizes his potential and gets to do some fighting in his own time. This disappointed me a bit. Overall I felt a bit underwhelmed. The movie plodded along at an almost leisurely pace except for the outbursts of action in the flashbacks. There was not really much happening that made me interested except for the action sequences. The acting is also adequate but not more. When Callum finally gets around to do some assassin stuff in our time it is too little too late. There is a nice fight when he and his assassin colleagues break out of the Knights Templar’s facility but the final show down between the two parties is, well, bland.

**All about the apple of Eden!** One of the much anticipated film of the year. It was a long wait for this film to see a light. I mean ever since the trend had started from the video games to the big screen, this one was a bit late to come into the party. My guess was, that's the disadvantage. The film fanatics thinks, there are too many graphics films. Besides, they did not pick the right screenplay for it like EA did for 'Need for Speed'. I have never played this game, so I was not expecting it like the others, but I'm surely disappointed with the film. I had no idea about the characters or the universe, it sets in. After watching the film I thought why this game is so famous where I did not find this film any good. Yep, it's not fair to compare two different formats. But the fact will remain that the film was one of the worst among big titles releasing on this year. I thought it was like 'Matrix', but more a periodic style action- adventure. I think the cast was good and the rest of the film was not. What I disliked the most was the smoky visuals. Yes, all the scenes with the ancient Spain was very smoky atmosphere that I had hard time to have a clear picture of what's going on. I hope there won't be any sequel to it, but if they do plan, I expect a miracle that erases all the bad image created by this part. The film is watchable, but not likable or enjoyable. Only for time pass. _4/10_