Movie Review: “Assassin’s Creed” greatly benefits from Michael Fassbender’s involvement

Movie Review: “Assassin’s Creed” (PG-13)

Full disclosure: I’m not a gamer. Therefore, I went into “Assassin’s Creed” simply as a curious moviegoer. In the end, it didn’t suck! That sounds like faint praise at best, but the truth is that despite the fragmented story structure, chaotic happenings, and confusion of it all, there are plenty of stretches throughout “Assassin’s Creed” that are strangely watchable, and a lot of that has to do with director Justin Kurzel’s crazy, insane visuals and fight sequences. But the majority of it has to be attributed to Michael Fassbender, an actor so steely and committed that he could make a turd look good.

In this movie adaptation of the uber-popular game, a man ordered to be executed for murder finds himself part of a strange scientific experiment that allows him the ability to relive moments of the life of one of his ancestors from 500 years earlier. Eventually, the experiments lead Callum Lynch (Fassbender) to realize that he’s actually the descendant of a deadly assassin. From there, things go from strange to absolute bonkers!

I had no idea what the hell was going on through a great deal of this movie. It’s a lot to take in, and perhaps the game is so dense that a lot of it gets lost in cinematic translation. Having said that, the action sequences are plentiful, and Fassbender’s commitment to the material (it’s a bit of a passion project for the actor) make the film more tolerable than it might have been otherwise.

There’s a tad too much doom and gloom here, and a few of the action sequences are a little too choppy and overly stylized, but Kurzel (2015’s “Macbeth”)  keeps things moving along at a pretty quick pace. While it’s clear that he’s a fan of the game, it’s also obvious that he’s a fan of “The Matrix” and “Indiana Jones” as there’s more than one tip of the hat to both. In addition to that, there’s a handful of effects that might remind one of Marvel’s recently released big-screen adaptation of “Doctor Strange.”

For all it’s flaws and fragmented nature, Kurzel and Fassbender are to be commended for daring to inject a bit of social commentary into the proceedings. Timeless themes of religion, science, and rising up against one’s oppressors are on full display, and while I didn’t always agree with the politics as presented, I respect that the folks behind “Assassin’s Creed” have put together a big action movie with a little more upstairs. Even if it is a little ape-shit crazy for its own good.

For gamers out there awaiting that perfect big-screen adaptation, it looks like you’re going to have to wait longer. “Assassin’s Creed” falls somewhere in between “Tomb Raider” and “Silent Hill,” but thankfully, it’s far more creative than dreck like 1994’s “Street Fighter.” I’ll take this one over “Super Mario Brothers,” too.

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