Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.0

Assassin's Creed 3D Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman March 21, 2017

For a brief and shining moment in late 2011, my eldest son thought I was at least a little cool when Assassin's Creed: Lineage showed up in the mail for me to review. For those without either current or former teenaged sons, the Assassin’s Creed gaming community is something to experience, and the love the players have for the environment(s) created in the vaunted Ubisoft franchise is considerable. This first feature film adaptation of the video game (Assassin’s Creed: Lineage was an interesting amalgamation of live action and the actual backgrounds of some of the game environments, but acted mostly as a set of quasi-promotional videos) has everything money can buy, but it lacks the same sort of visceral emotional connection with any potential audience, a connection that has made the game franchise so successful. The film is undeniably majestic on visuals, one of the key lessons it took from the game franchise, but it is so overstuffed with plot points culled from various Assassin’s Creed gaming entries that my hunch is newcomers are going to be somewhat confounded at several junctures. The film certainly hasn’t shirked in the casting department, with Michael Fessbender providing his typical science fiction gravitas in dual roles as current day Callum Lynch (note that “assassin-y” last name) and 15th century assassin named Aguilar del Nehar with whom Lynch “synchronizes” in one of the film’s premises which simply require the audience to go with. That “synchronization” means that Cal more or less channels Aguilar’s experiences, courtesy of a high tech gizmo that more or less injects Cal, The Matrix like, into a virtual reality, all in pursuit of knowledge of the whereabouts of an important totem in the Assassin’s Creed universe, the Apple of Eden, which in this case may hold the secret code that creates free will. In the crammed to the gills expository overload that Assassin’s Creed offers, especially in its almost mind boggling first half hour or so, it’s important to also remember the nefarious activities of the Knights Templar, here perhaps even more scheming than they were in Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code .

In just the first few minutes of Assassin’s Creed, the film hurtles through two disparate time frames, with a brief vignette documenting Aguilar’s induction into the Assassin brotherhood (and sisterhood, actually), which is then followed by another sequence showing Cal as a little boy performing some daredevil stunts on his bicycle before returning to his patently bizarre home in what appears to be an abandoned western town, where he finds his mother has been killed—by his father (played by Brian Gleeson and Brendan Gleeson at different ages). In one of those weird synchronicities which sometimes accrue to reviewers’ queues, the film then ports forward a couple of decades to start examining issues of what causes violence, in a kind of science fiction take on some of the same concepts that inform another film I just reviewed, American Violence. That comparison is particularly apt in that exactly as with American Violence Assassin’s Creed posits a female scientist, in this case Sophia Rikkin (Marion Cotillard), who is on the quest to track down the root causes of violent behavior in order to permanently prevent (or at least quash) it.

An adult Cal (Michael Fessbender) is shown being led to the gallows for crimes which aren’t overly detailed but which evidently were horrific enough to require the death penalty. A kind of disturbing sequence documenting his execution is shown, which then segues without explanation to Cal waking up in the clutches of the Abstergo Foundation, where he is the pet project of Sophia, who uses her high tech Animus Project to “link” Cal with his distant ancestor Aguilar. If Aguilar’s genetic memories, as revealed “through” Cal when he synchronizes with Aguilar (got that?), can get modern day Mankind to the hidden Apple of Eden, maybe all of the current problems of the world can finally be solved. Except (and isn’t there always an “except” in films like this?) it turns out Sophia’s villainous father Alan Rikkin (Jeremy Irons), the major domo of the Abstergo Foundation, is a modern day Templar who wants to solve those aforementioned problems by subjugating humans courtesy of the knowledge he can acquire from the Apple.

In a way it’s almost comical that director Justin Kurzel previously helmed Fassbender and Cotillard in Macbeth, since it’s more than obvious Assassin’s Creed wants to be one of those high-falutin’ science fiction exploits that supposedly gives folks something to think about. (There’s also the plot point of an ultimately scheming female, in a late device that is obviously setting things up for a sequel.) But Assassin’s Creed doesn’t really have the courage of its convictions. While it tries to blend real history with fictional elements (the fact that the Spanish scenes take place in 1492 may be a clue as to one iconic character who shows up), in other ways it completely glosses over actual history when it doesn’t suit the film’s purposes (why have a character discuss the origin of the word “assassin” and then not clarify it’s etymologically related to “hashish”, which is what the original assassins supposedly indulged in before taking out their enemies).

What could have been a Shakespearean angle between Sophia and Alan (albeit more in the King Lear mold than the Macbeth) is never properly developed, leaving the film’s climax feeling kind of limp. The “merging” of Cal and Aguilar is at least somewhat more compelling, and certainly will appeal most to those who have spent countless hours playing the video game versions.

Note: My colleague Brian Orndorf evidently liked Assassin's Creed at least a little bit more than I did. You can read Brian's thoughts here.

Rant: I've been holding off on blathering about this to see if Fox could come up with a better anti piracy "technology", but they haven't, so here goes. Many of the recent Fox discs I've reviewed come "locked" when they're inserted in a PC drive (they play fine on a standalone player). To "unlock" them requires generating a code. No Fox disc I have yet reviewed will automatically connect to the internet to retrieve a code, something the instructions say should work. Instead, any number of techniques (website, email, 800 number) are offered which provide a 16 piece alphanumeric code that must be entered. Even that might be okay if the disc allowed the consumer to type in the code, but no. Instead, the disc forces you to use your keyboard arrow keys to navigate around an onscreen keyboard and then select each letter or number individually. It's incredibly annoying and in my not so humble opinion, totally off putting to consumers who have rightfully purchased their Blu-ray disc.

Assassin's Creed 3D Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Assassin's Creed is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment with AVC (2D) and MVC (3D) encoded 1080p transfers in 2.39:1 (on separate discs). Shot with a variety of digital cameras and finished at a 4K DI (according to the IMDb), Assassin's Creed is very impressive visually—that is, when you can actually see anything. This is one of the most relentlessly dark (as in dimly lit) outings in my recent memory, where even supposedly sunlit outdoor scenes are smoky and hazy and often graded to tones that don't necessarily support fine detail levels. In fact, large swaths of this film are graded either toward yellow or sepia (in the 15th century sequences) or, alternatively, cool blues (in the contemporary lab sequences). When added to the fact that the vast majority of the film plays out in shadows, either in the lab or in long ago Spain, there are recurrent deficits in detail levels simply because nothing is easily apparent. That said, when close-ups are featured, fine detail is often excellent, and one of the more normally graded set pieces, an execution at the hands of the Spanish Inquisition, looks nicely sharp and well detailed since it takes place outdoors and isn't slathered in browns or yellows. The film has a lot of CGI, which generally looks quite good, though the backgrounds have a perhaps appropriately painterly look that evokes the videogame environments.

The 3D presentation suffers from that aforementioned darkness, something that affects depth levels probably more than anything that might be ascribed to this being a post conversion effort. When the majority of the frame is bathed in shadows, there's simply not enough visual information being imparted to adequately outline spatial differentiation. That said, there's at least acceptable dimensionality scattered throughout the film, notably in the more brightly lit lab scenes (typically away from the Animus room, which is very dark), as well as some of the outdoor sequences in the 15th century ( a real standout is a sequence where a "chase" takes place across open vistas, where both depth of field and well placed foreground objects provide a good sense of depth within the frame). Perhaps surprisingly, the "thrust" forward when Cal "becomes" Aguilar is pretty flat looking, and there also aren't a lot of "in your face" moments, for those who like such things.

Assassin's Creed 3D Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Assassin's Creed sports a very effective DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 mix that begins with swirling ambient sounds even before the film actually starts and then continues to provide regular immersive opportunities not necessarily relegated to only the big fight scenes (though those resonate with some extremely effective discrete channelization). Even the "echo-y" confines of the lab offer some nice reverberant effects, and the "thrusting" of Cal into Aguilar's memories also provides a whoosh of panning. Dialogue is presented clearly and Jed Kurzel's rote but supportive score also resides in the side and rear channels effectively.

Once again Fox has provided different audio and subtitle specs for its 2D and 3D versions of the same film. The specs above are for the 3D version. See the Assassin's Creed Blu-ray review for the specs on the 2D version.

Assassin's Creed 3D Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The 3D disc has no supplements. The 2D disc also included in this package includes the same supplements that are featured on the standalone 2D release:

• Take the Pledge: Behind the Scenes of Assassin's Creed (1080p; 41:05) is an above average assortment of featurettes that document the production, and include a number of interesting interviews, including with Ubisoft personnel.


• Conversations with Justin Kurzel (1080p; 20:22) offers an assortment of dialogues with the director and various crew members, including a joint conversation with his brother, who scored the film.


• Deleted Scenes Conversation with Justin Kurzel and Justin Tellefson (1080p; 22:23) offers both interstitial comments as well as in some cases deleted scenes that have the collaborators speaking over the footage.


• Deleted Scenes (1080p; 15:44)


• Gallery

  Concept Art (1080p; 1:15)

  Costumes and Weapons (1080p; 3:05)

  Unit Photography (1080p; 4:00)

  
  Note: All of the galleries offer either Manual Advance or Auto Advance options. The timings are for the Auto Advance options.

• Theatrical Trailers (1080p; 4:22)

Assassin's Creed 3D Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Assassin's Creed want to have its cake and eat it, too, offering supposedly thoughtful philosophical, religious and even genetic concepts in a context of what amounts to a 15th century slasher flick. Performances are generally very good, even though none of the leads are fully fleshed out characters and exist more as mere types. The film at least has a breathless mentality to sustain its more ludicrous elements, and though it's extremely dark a lot of the time, the visuals properly evoke the now iconic ambience of the Ubisoft franchise. While I can't give a wholehearted recommendation to the film itself, technical merits on this disc are excellent (though the 3D presentation simply can't overcome the omnipresent darkness), and the supplementary package very interesting.