Assassin's Creed

It’s no fan service and it goes hard toward even the most welcoming viewer. It’s a non-Hollywood adaptation that mercilessly flushed over a hundred million and had no shame in doing so. It’s visually captivating bliss that tests the projectionists and the limits of how much the viewer is willing to accept the creative rules. (12/29/2016)

Well, it's not a good film, but in the end it's not a complete disaster either. Assassin's Creed alternates above average and sometimes almost great moments with moments when I almost felt sorry for the filmmakers. What goes well? Definitely the action, or rather almost everything from the past. The battles are quick, fairly straightforward and brisk, and at least the part where two of the heroes are running away from an entire city really hit the spot. The scenes of Spain being terrorised by the Inquisition do show the money, and the costumes, the production design and the visual effects look more than good too. Unfortunately, everything that takes place in the present is more or less ugly and terribly boring. I've played almost all of the games, and from the very beginning, these passages annoyed me. In the film, the uninteresting present takes up two-thirds of the running time. Most of the cast act like they weren't told what was wanted of them, it doesn't make any sense at all at times, and unfortunately Assassin's Creed is unaware of its stupidity and simplicity (nothing against it, I love it) and tries to pretend to be something more than a simple blockbuster. And it's not very good at it. In a few years, someone will edit a nice 20-minute video out of it with good action and nice sets. In the meantime, we have a movie that is boring most of the time or tries in vain to fulfill the ambitions of someone in the background who didn't understand that he was making an action movie. And those have to be entertaining first and foremost. (05/15/2017)

An interesting, artistically ambitious attempt. Visually, it’s similarly "black and white" and artfully polished as anything from Nolan or Spectre. But the script is gibberish and buries the personality and confident direction the creators were pursuing. The parkour is fine, and so is 15th century Spain, but everything in the present is rubbish. And in this case, I'm afraid that, unlike Warcraft, the players of this famous game won't be excited about the film adaptation. (01/07/2017)

The curse of movies based on a videogame brand continues. This film is once again evidence of the fact that a good gaming adaptation does not need to mean a well-made movie. The computer game is based mainly on the atmosphere of the medieval setting. I always thought the story set in the near future wasn’t too great and I always sort of skipped it. Not only was it fairly nonsensical, but it also didn’t fit into the otherwise nicely depicted history at all. But Ubisoft wanted it this way and they sold it this way. However, the story of the film didn’t work at all although it offered good quality fimmaking, which could represent a pretty good experience. In the end, the only thing I got from the movie were the historical action sequences, which were absolutely perfect. The director of cinematography and the editor probably puffed a joint or two, but it was still within reasonably bearable limits. It was probably also because the film itself wasn’t too cheap so they didn’t have to patch things up and cover them up with a cheaper budget. Some of the stunt shots that I saw were really great. It’s a pity though that Fassbender and Cotillard didn’t get a chance to show off their acting. Emotions – none. Dialogues – horrible. And the plot? What was the whole thing actually about and what is it that was going on in there the entire time? Well, as I said the action was good, but the rest was pretty bad. (05/02/2017)

Justin Kurzel has found that fabled compromise between portraying his own vision and sufficiently pleasing the fans of the games. In the current storyline, the contest for the apple still takes first place, but it is cleverly and necessarily minimized to its basic functions and outlines. There's no point in lying to ourselves, as this artifact has a line around it that is initially interesting, then tolerated, then in the end sadly stretched. The suppression of supernatural side motives is therefore only to the good, giving Callum the space to become a flesh and blood hero (something his gaming predecessor Desmond could only dream of for a long time). Michael Fassbender also works equally well as a torn victim of fate and an unbeatable Aguilar, forcing me to hold my breath and tense my muscles in the action scenes. But what I appreciate the most is that as a player (I have successfully immersed myself in the world of Abstergo and Co. a total of six times and the Ezio trilogy or Black Flag are damn high on my list), it doesn't just make me tick off obligatory trademarks of the story or genre, but on the contrary, it squeezes me unbelievably while waiting for a leap of faith. My only complaints are therefore about th elogical errors, which sadden me even more because I try my best not to dwell on them. However, the absence of anything other than police batons is a glaring handicap for the guards, and at times it bothers you, as does the unclear extent of Callum's genetic memory capabilities, which then obscure the most emotional scene of the entire movie. Despite these bumps in the road, Assassin's Creed has managed to land in the position of my favorite game adaptation, and their flop at the box office will disappoint me for a long time. (01/13/2017)