Assassin’s Creed the game
The Assassin’s Creed video games are based on the rivalry between two ancient secret societies: the Assassins and the Knights Templar. Both groups want to bring peace to the world, they just differ in the methods they use to accomplish it. The Assassins believe peace should be obtained through free-will. The Templars want to bring peace to humanity through control.
The mega-corporation Abstergo Industries is the modern day face of the Knights Templar. They developed a device called the Animus which allows people to experience their ancestral memories. While experiencing the memories of an ancestor some of their abilities are genetically leaked into the person. This is known as the Bleeding Effect. It has the side effect of having to live with multiple sets of memories and personalities in your mind.
Abstergo is seeking to discover the location of several artifacts called “Pieces of Eden”. These artifacts hold the ability to control mankind and alter its fate. The Assassins are attempting to recover the Pieces of Eden first to prevent Abstergo from controlling humanity.
The game employs the memories of a number of Assassins, including Altaïr Ibn-La’Ahad, an initially disgraced Assassin working to redeem himself during the Third Crusade; Ezio Auditore da Firenze, an Assassin in Italy during the late 15th and early 16th centuries of the Italian Renaissance, and Ratohnhaké:ton, otherwise known as Connor, a half-Mohawk, half-British Assassin during the American Revolution.
Assassin’s Creed the movie
Assassin’s Creed is based on the video game franchise of the same name. It is directed by Justin Kurzel. It is written by Michael Lesslie, Adam Cooper, and Bill Collage. It features actors Michael Fassbender, Marion Cotillard, Jeremy Irons, Brendan Gleeson, Charlotte Rampling, and Michael K. Williams.
The movie is set in the same universe as the video games but features an original story that expands the series’ mythology. If you pay close attention in the scenes shot in the Abstergo compound artifact room you will notice specific weapons from the games. There are the traditional Assassin wrist blades, Altaïr Ibn-La’Ahad’s sword (Assassin’s Creed), Connor/Ratonhnhaké:ton’s bow (Assassin’s Creed III), Edward Kenway’s flintlock pistols (Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag), and Jacob Frye’s cane sword (Assassin’s Creed Syndicate).
You won’t see any of the characters from the Assassin’s Creed games, though. This story centers on career criminal Callum Lynch. He is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection for committing murder. We never learn the specifics of how or why he murdered someone, only that the person he killed was a pimp.
Callum is rescued from his own execution by Abstergo Industries. He is forced to participate in the Animus Project. He relives the memories of his ancestor Aguilar de Nerha, an Assassin in the time of the Spanish Inquisition. Aguilar is believed to be the only person knows the location of the Pieces of Eden. As Lynch continues to relive Aguilar’s memories he begins to experience the Bleeding Effect. He gains the knowledge and skills necessary to confront the Templars in the present day.
Our verdict
We believe that Assassin’s Creed is not only the best movie based on a video game, it is a darn good movie overall. The story is written well enough that someone with no knowledge of the video game can still understand all the character motives and enjoy the movie. The 140 minute run time does not drag. The pacing of the film keeps your interest throughout the whole movie. Definitely a good movie. If you are an Assassin’s Creed fan it elevates to awesome status.
