A powerful and secretive corporation with ties to the Knights Templar abducts a career criminal (Michael Fassbender) from death row. He is a descendant of a legendary assassin who lived and died in Spain in the late fifteenth century, and they plan to use an experimental device to access memories stored in his DNA, hoping to find a long-lost artifact with the power to erase humanity's capacity for free will. (The artifact is solemnly referred to as "the Apple.") It is is an absurd and convoluted premise, and it is soporific to watch it play out for nearly two hours. Video-game adaptation Assassin's Creed represents an almost inconceivable lapse in skill and taste on the part of promising Australian director Justin Kurzel, whose previous features are the profoundly disturbing true-crime drama The Snowtown Murders and last year's sumptuous, visceral Shakespeare adaptation Macbeth. He reunites here with the latter's two A-list stars, Fassbender and Marion Cotillard, drawing rarely flat performances from both while also squandering an eclectic ensemble cast including Brendan Gleeson, Jeremy Irons, Charlotte Rampling, and Michael K. Williams. The film is so boring and uninteresting, one almost forgets he or she is watching it until a particularly loud noise disrupts the induced stupor. It reduces everything it touches: see, for instance, Inquisition-ravaged Andalucía become a partly computer-generated, haphazardly cut blur of dust, sweat, thronging extras, parkour stunt doubles, and PG-13-friendly combat with nary a hint of coherent storytelling nor a single distinctive character in sight.

F

uh oh. I'm seeing this in a couple of hours.

Assassin's Creed features a cool story idea that is woefully underdeveloped - in the hands of a skillful screenwriter, it could have been a great sci-fi/historical action hybrid. As it stands, story fragments are hurled at the screen like a monkey flinging dung at its keepers. On top of this, the CGI is shoddy, substituting smoke and darkness for detail. Really, it's worse than a terrible movie, because of its wasted potential. *F*

Wow. Even Bradley gives this an F. It must be bad.

"IT'S CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS...where is he buried?"

There were also points where I was honestly straight up confused. What exactly was going on with Jeremy Irons' character in the end? He decided to use the Apple artifact to destroy mankind rather than just "cure violence"? Why was Marion Cotillard abruptly disillusioned with him (before abruptly pivoting again to tease her being the main antagonist in a never-to-be-produced sequel)?

This movie also has a serious problem with ruining visual ideas through severe repetition. I grew so tired of the constant aerial pans (with or without the CGI eagle) or present-day Fassbender having blurred visions of his hooded ancestor.

2016 saw two promising, stylish young directors creatively devoured and undone by big-budget video-game adaptations: first Duncan Jones with Warcraft and now Justin Kurzel with this.

Not to mention Cotillard's random appearance as one of the assassin "ghosts".

I think I didn't get about one third of the film.

I thought Mother's Day would not be challenged this year but by all means this is just not just waste of a movie its a total disaster. NOTHING in this good. Whatever David said I felt those things as well but there's more, most of the story doesn't make sense, whatever is going on in Spain doesn't connect, the action feels the same every time and there is no sense of going to another level. The Apple of Eden was just waste of a gadget.

1/10 (I am really tempted to give it a zero)

It isn't good, but it is not THAT terrible.

And?

Of course, this being Dr. Lecter, there's little chance of an actual review substantiating his opinion.

He literally has his own website where you can read his review, you fucking clown.

When I walked out I thought it wasn't that bad, but I guess I was just enjoying staring at Fassbender. It's not good. Silly and doesn't really go anywhere with its characters. Poor Cotillard, this is the worst performance I've seen from her.

Well, it's in German, so "read" is maybe a bit much.



Cool. It seems this is really ending up in the bottom 5 of everyone's yearly list.

Well for me it was/is. If it wasn't for the cast I would have walked out of the movie. I also thought the end would be better but there is just nothing to it. I did hear the game lovers liking the movie but definitely the general consensus was "I didn't understand it" from the 4-5 people I heard out in the crowd. Someone also mentioned that it gets better with the second movie, I wonder if they would have just quickly skipped to that part.

you can certainly read it; understanding it is another issue.

this movie is certainly bad but still better than batman v superman and suicide squad.

This is definitely a more interesting prospect than Rogue One now that it's reviews are this bad.

Better than BvS.

Well, now I might actually see this since I love that film. Even I didn't hate warcraft but it was certainly wasted potential of what could have been.

Not a single ten minute scene where Michael Fassbender has to tail someone while they stop every twenty seconds to look behind them. What was even the point.

No point at all I guess, but it's one of the actions you have to do in the first game in a lot of missions. Follow some people and rob them without noticing, but they randomly turn around and you have to be careful.

And that's why video game films constantly fail.

I didn't think it was awful, but it's frustrating how much potential is wasted in this film. The whole thing should have just taken place in the past, because those are easily the best parts of the movie and it's a shame that nobody behind this couldn't figure that out. I mean you manage to have great actors like Michael K. Williams, Brendan Gleeson and Jeremy Irons get on board with a videogame movie adaptation and this is the best you could get out of them? It's sad and worse of all Fassbender/Cotillard don't fare much better. You really have no reason to care for their characters other than them being the main characters.

Whoever thought it's a good idea that a felt 90% of the movie takes place today should be hanged. And while I usually like Fassbender I thought his depressed persona wasn't doing this movie a favor. Such a missed opportunity. It's just pretty much shit from start to finish.

The trailers also definitely make it seem otherwise. I'll probably watch it at some point, but in no rush.