Assassin's CreedEveryone's life leaves a mark, a pattern for future generations to learn from and follow. Assassin's Creed is an action film adapted from the popular series of video games of the same name, surrounding a millennia-long shadow war between two secret orders--the Assassins and the Templars--for the future of the world. The film chronicles the introduction of Callum "Cal" Lynch (Michael Fassbender) into this world, as the Templars--in the form of their front corporation, Abstergo, and its CEO, Dr. Alan Rikkin (Jeremy Irons), with his gifted scientist daughter, Sofia (Marion Cotillard)--probe Cal's ancestral past via a sophisticated machine called "the Animus". Their mission is to locate an ancient artifact known as the "Apple of Eden", a relic reputed to hold dominion over free will.
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Like its video game counterpart, Assassin's Creed deals with themes of freedom versus tyranny, and of vigilance against fascism. Assassin's Creed is fundamentally two stories wrapped into one--that of Cal, and that of his ancestor, Aguilar de Nerha (also Fassbender), who lived in late 15th century Spain during the Spanish Inquisition and the Granada War. This dual narrative plot device in keeping with the source material, which often follows a modern day descendant of an Assassin who comes to learn of his secret ancestry via his or her exposure to the Animus, and serves as a justification for exciting set pieces juxtaposed with historical fiction. The Animus itself is really the ultimate virtual reality video game, placing Cal within a simulated experience of his genetic predecessor. Although the process results in Cal hallucinating that Aguilar is "haunting" his present during his internment at Abstergo, the phantom of his Assassin counterpart is also a kind of "training module", imparting the skills of the ancient order to Cal as if uploading them into his brain. Between the science-fiction brainjacking of the Animus and the labyrinthine conspiracies and secret orders, Assassin's Creed is essentially a cross between The Da Vinci Code and The Matrix.
The episodes from Aguilar's life as an Assassin are shown as if through an ever-so-slightly faded, slightly sepia-touched filter, giving them the tinge of antiquity. These moments are often filled with scenes of highly stylized prowess of Assassins like Aguilar and his ally, Maria (Ariane Labed), as they struggle to save the kidnapped heir of Sultan Muhammad XII, in turn to prevent the Apple from being relinquished to the Templars, including the Grand Inquisitor Tomas de Torquemada (Javier Gutiérrez), and his brutish "black knight", Ojeda (Hovik Keuchkerian). These "regressions" into Cal's past are administered by Sofia--with the increasing insistence of her father, due to trickling down pressure placed on him from his Templar superior, Ellen Kaye (Charlotte Rampling. The superficial purpose of these sessions are performed under the auspices of "curing violence", though in actuality they are designed to reveal where it was that Aguilar had hidden the Apple, so that the Templars may claim it for their own. The flashbacks are like the assorted missions--or "sequences"--from the "Assassin's Creed" video game series, a detail that should not be lost on fans. They are filled with events like a thrilling rescue through the wilds on horseback or a rooftop chase, complete with stylish leaps and parkour-inspired acrobatics. Initially, these moments are contrasted with Cal's life in 2016, following his staged execution as a convicted murderer, only to be "reborn" into Abstergo's clutches. The bunker where he--and several other descendants--are confined is depicted as a colder atmosphere, with a more muted color palette than his ancestral past. The difference between these two different ways of depicting the generations separated by over five hundred years also intimates just how insidiously the Templar's influence has spread on a global scale through other means, hinted at to include religion and consumerism.
Assassin's Creed blurs the lines between the supernatural and super science through both the Animus and the Apple of Eden. The former is depicted as being an ultra-sophisticated means of establishing a scientific component to what is essentially reincarnation, while the latter is purported to be the evidence of mankind's fall from God's grace, containing the "seeds" of the first act of rebellion. Similar to the literal "Assassin's creed"--"nothing is true, everything is permitted"--there is no definite answer as to whether one is influenced by the other, or whether the supernatural or science are mutually exclusive. Although the Animus is designed to give a visual image of the relived memories of Aguilar as encoded within Cal's own DNA, this does not explain the so-called "bleeding effect" or other manifestations of a collective unconsciousness which Cal taps into as a result. In this, the Animus both answers and further mystifies myths of shamans and other practitioners of obscure spiritualism from other cultures, by creating a synchronicity between them. One of the characteristics which makes the Templars so unlikable is that they act superior, like parents who are always telling their children what to do and how to behave, unflinchingly convinced that their fascist way of order is the only way, and free will is a plague to be eradicated. The Animus is an extension of this philosophy, a mechanical substitute for mysticism--a cold, metal claw which grabs Cal while he is under, shaking him like a ragdoll. Cal already has deep resentment toward his father, whom he found had killed his mother when he was boy, an experience which the film suggests led Cal to a very dark life, and ultimately death row. Cal's crisis moment comes when he must consider how he is being coerced by both the Assassins and Templars, pulled by both in their centuries-old tug-of-war for supremacy, and choose for himself which path is the right one, which is the very essence of the Creed.
Recommended for: Fans of a mix of acrobatic action and historical fiction, with a dash of science fiction. Perhaps it goes without saying, but fans of the "Assassin's Creed" video game series will find numerous nods to the games throughout, adding to the rich mythos of the franchise.
The episodes from Aguilar's life as an Assassin are shown as if through an ever-so-slightly faded, slightly sepia-touched filter, giving them the tinge of antiquity. These moments are often filled with scenes of highly stylized prowess of Assassins like Aguilar and his ally, Maria (Ariane Labed), as they struggle to save the kidnapped heir of Sultan Muhammad XII, in turn to prevent the Apple from being relinquished to the Templars, including the Grand Inquisitor Tomas de Torquemada (Javier Gutiérrez), and his brutish "black knight", Ojeda (Hovik Keuchkerian). These "regressions" into Cal's past are administered by Sofia--with the increasing insistence of her father, due to trickling down pressure placed on him from his Templar superior, Ellen Kaye (Charlotte Rampling. The superficial purpose of these sessions are performed under the auspices of "curing violence", though in actuality they are designed to reveal where it was that Aguilar had hidden the Apple, so that the Templars may claim it for their own. The flashbacks are like the assorted missions--or "sequences"--from the "Assassin's Creed" video game series, a detail that should not be lost on fans. They are filled with events like a thrilling rescue through the wilds on horseback or a rooftop chase, complete with stylish leaps and parkour-inspired acrobatics. Initially, these moments are contrasted with Cal's life in 2016, following his staged execution as a convicted murderer, only to be "reborn" into Abstergo's clutches. The bunker where he--and several other descendants--are confined is depicted as a colder atmosphere, with a more muted color palette than his ancestral past. The difference between these two different ways of depicting the generations separated by over five hundred years also intimates just how insidiously the Templar's influence has spread on a global scale through other means, hinted at to include religion and consumerism.
Assassin's Creed blurs the lines between the supernatural and super science through both the Animus and the Apple of Eden. The former is depicted as being an ultra-sophisticated means of establishing a scientific component to what is essentially reincarnation, while the latter is purported to be the evidence of mankind's fall from God's grace, containing the "seeds" of the first act of rebellion. Similar to the literal "Assassin's creed"--"nothing is true, everything is permitted"--there is no definite answer as to whether one is influenced by the other, or whether the supernatural or science are mutually exclusive. Although the Animus is designed to give a visual image of the relived memories of Aguilar as encoded within Cal's own DNA, this does not explain the so-called "bleeding effect" or other manifestations of a collective unconsciousness which Cal taps into as a result. In this, the Animus both answers and further mystifies myths of shamans and other practitioners of obscure spiritualism from other cultures, by creating a synchronicity between them. One of the characteristics which makes the Templars so unlikable is that they act superior, like parents who are always telling their children what to do and how to behave, unflinchingly convinced that their fascist way of order is the only way, and free will is a plague to be eradicated. The Animus is an extension of this philosophy, a mechanical substitute for mysticism--a cold, metal claw which grabs Cal while he is under, shaking him like a ragdoll. Cal already has deep resentment toward his father, whom he found had killed his mother when he was boy, an experience which the film suggests led Cal to a very dark life, and ultimately death row. Cal's crisis moment comes when he must consider how he is being coerced by both the Assassins and Templars, pulled by both in their centuries-old tug-of-war for supremacy, and choose for himself which path is the right one, which is the very essence of the Creed.
Recommended for: Fans of a mix of acrobatic action and historical fiction, with a dash of science fiction. Perhaps it goes without saying, but fans of the "Assassin's Creed" video game series will find numerous nods to the games throughout, adding to the rich mythos of the franchise.