Review of Assassin's Creed (2016) by Jesse L — 24 May 2017

Reading the reviews both by professionals and on this site make me physically ill. Anybody who's watching without first being versed in the games is setting themselves up for disappointment - but newsflash to them - this film wasn't produced with them in mind! It was for fans of the series.

Overall the movie was pretty great - and heck, even if I wasn't a fan of the series - it was totally a great movie. When I watch movies I don't critique everything like it's going up for the Oscars or something - I look for the content and what it means - and in the case of game movies, what it means to the series.

I've played every game to 100% and some of them multiple times - and I saw so much references to the series, that the people saying there are none must be blind. All of the artifacts behind glass throughout the movie are ones used by people in the games - or by Templars - heck they even have Maria's book in one scene... a book - most people won't pick up on such a small detail, but I sure did. Additionally, every single prisoner is a genetic descendant of one of the game or downloaded content's protagonists - they were not random assassin's but tied to the games. Also the scene where he is finally inducted into the order - it is unclear who the people are other than his mother - but they all don the robes of notable assassin's in the series.

The movie keep in pace with the series lore, and even sets us up for an interesting future - knowing that Abstergo is on he brink of foreclosure only highlights that the series in terms of games, is about to take an interesting turn. How will the Templars continue to wage their war? They are going to abandon Abstergo, and naturally they're going to turn to a whole new plan!

Probably the only thing about the movie I didn't like is the lies about "the" apple - but this could have been done intentionally for non-fans of the series. Firstly, there is multiple Apples of Eden, and the most recent one in the series that both the Templars and Assassin's are aware of - was found in 2012, not 500 years ago. The Apple this movie focuses on, is not the same one the games follow - and while that one was last seen 500 years ago, the movie seems to imply the war between Templars and Assassin's has been in stalemate since then, but that is just not true - the game's also reveal other prominent figures like Tesla having access to apples... - and in fact, the apples are also not the only pieces of eden, there is the Sword of Eden, Staff of Eden, Shroud of Turin and so many more. So this continued focus on the Apple was disappointing - I would like them to switch it up and go after one of the many other relics - but that's a personal taste issue.

I felt the acting was good, I didn't see anything particularly wrong with it - or the star studded cast - to be quite honest, I'm a gamer first - and so films are something I rarely spend time on, I don't recognize 90% of these actors because I don't watch more than a handful of movies in a year's time. Obviously I knew Fassbender - and even having just watched Alien Covenant yesterday, I was in no way thrown off to see a familiar face.

The fact that one of the most prominent reviews about this movies states that the mistake about the movie is assuming it's storytelling is the most important thing about it's source material is absolutely laughable - That IS the single most important aspect of the source material, I couldn't shake my head any harder - that has always been the case with Asassin's Creed. The games were highly enjoyable - but the true hardcore fans have always been there for the story - and this just wraps back to the main point I started with - this movie was not made for non-fans. The series lore is complex - and would take far more than 90 minutes to explain to somebody - the fact another review says it's overplotted is a joke - they absolutely dumbed down the plot for outsiders, and they still complain!

This is also the single best game to movie adaptation to date, in my opinion - and I have enjoyed many others like the Resident Evil series.

Personally speaking, I feel they should have never released in theaters or as a "movie" - they should have made it more clear that it was an extension of the series and for fans of the series - instead they mistakenly opened the door for 1000s of people who don't understand, and will review based on their limited knowledge.

If you're a true fan of the series, and don't moan and act cynical with each new game release or media release, then chances are you will enjoy this movie.

I can't say anything in this world is perfect - but this movie is a heck of alot better than the reviews claim... I can't believe I wasted 5 months of my life delaying because of the garbage I read! Apparently they're all written by people who don't have a lick of sense about what they're discussing or overly critical fans who can't let go of Ezio still and herald 2 as 'the last good game in the series.' Flushed those people out of the woodwork for sure - but I enjoyed myself :).