The first trailer for the Assassin’s Creed move has dropped, and shockingly, it actually looks pretty good. Of course, this is only a trailer, but it already looks far better than pretty much any other movie based on a videogame ever made.
It’s got an incredible cast, with Michael Fassbender in the dual lead role as both the present day protagonist and his 15th century assassin ancestor, and he’s supported by Marion Cotillard, Michael K. Williams, and Jeremy Irons. Plus it’s directed by acclaimed filmmaker Justin Kurzel (Snowtown, Macbeth). Of course, it could be that they’re all just doing it for the money, and this expertly-cut trailer is just tricking us (the liberal use of a Kanye instrumental is has also got us hooked—remember how well Tinie Tempah was used to sell Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood?).
But the real reason why this could be the one actually-decent videogame movie is much deeper than that. Since the time when they were first able display graphics more complicated than just coloured squares, games have always aped movies in their plots and scenarios. That makes sense—video games give you the chance to ‘do’ things that you never could in real life, be that score in a World Cup final, be a secret agent, or fight dragons and aliens. So of course they’d take things from your favourite films.
The first trailer for the Assassin’s Creed move has dropped, and shockingly, it actually looks pretty good. Of course, this is only a trailer, but it already looks far better than pretty much any other movie based on a videogame ever made.
It’s got an incredible cast, with Michael Fassbender in the dual lead role as both the present day protagonist and his 15th century assassin ancestor, and he’s supported by Marion Cotillard, Michael K. Williams, and Jeremy Irons. Plus it’s directed by acclaimed filmmaker Justin Kurzel (Snowtown, Macbeth). Of course, it could be that they’re all just doing it for the money, and this expertly-cut trailer is just tricking us (the liberal use of a Kanye instrumental is has also got us hooked—remember how well Tinie Tempah was used to sell Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood?).
But the real reason why this could be the one actually-decent videogame movie is much deeper than that. Since the time when they were first able display graphics more complicated than just coloured squares, games have always aped movies in their plots and scenarios. That makes sense—video games give you the chance to ‘do’ things that you never could in real life, be that score in a World Cup final, be a secret agent, or fight dragons and aliens. So of course they’d take things from your favourite films.
The problem came when games became popular enough to be turned into movies, because in truth, most of the big franchises that got adapted were already knock-offs of particular films or characters. Street Fighter is Enter The Dragon. Resident Evil is Dawn of the Dead. Tomb Raider is Indiana Jones with a girl. Need For Speed is every car chase movie ever. That’s not a problem when it’s just a game; Capcom’s sublime gameplay makes up for the fact Ryu isn’t actually Bruce Lee. It’s just set dressing. But when you turn that into a film, it’s shown for what it really is: an inferior knock-off.
Assassin’s Creed is different though. If you’re not a gamer, the basic plot is this: future tech allows a dude to jump back into his ancestor’s lives, who it turns out were all part of a secret society of assassins. So essentially, it’s him doing sick ninja stuff during the Crusades, or the Renaissance, or the French Revolution. It’s a film you can sell on having a cool original concept regardless even if you’re never heard of the game, not just “Here’s a franchise you recognise.” Done right, with a good cast (which it looks like they’re doing), it could be great.
And gaming has reach the point now where there’s lots of big games with interesting storylines and concepts that could make great blockbusters and genre movies. The likes The Last of Us, Metal Gear Solid, God of War, Bioshock, Fallout and many more have great plots that are not just an obvious movie riff. And that’s not even going into the innovative world of indie games. There’s so great material out there. This could be a new era.
Or maybe we’re just getting excited over nothing, and Assassin’s Creed will be no better than Hitman: Agent 47 or Mortal Kombat: Annihilation (Actually Mortal Kombat: Annihilation was pretty fucking sick, thinking about it. GO back and watch the shit, yo).