If you had hope that the Assassin's Creed movie would break the tradition of video game movies being pretty terrible, I'm afraid it is about to be dashed. Despite having a high production budget, despite being mostly in a foreign language, Assassin's Creed the movie has been pretty poorly received by critics.
This is a pretty surprising turn around though, even for a movie based on a video game franchise. Previous efforts like Prince of Persia weren't too terrible and the cast, crew and director of the AC film were all of a very high calibre. But that didn't seem to matter in the end.
Indiewire gave it a B - while Total Film gave it 3/5, but from there things go from bad to worse. The Telegraph gave it a 2/5, while the Guardian and Slant Magazine gave it a one star review.
While there is much action to be had in the film, for the most part we're told it's just not a very exciting film. There is a meandering, rather lifeless story the critics claim, with all of the problems of the game's setting. In-fact, without being able to hop back into gameplay between story elements, all of the issues with the Assassin's Creed setting are highlighted even further.
The Templar's multi-generational battle feels silly, the concept of the Animus ridiculous and the idea of an Apple being at the centre of it all... well.
Not everyone hated the film of course, with some praising its fight scenes as exciting enough to haul through the rest of the film.Others suggested that the strange plot is actually something that helps Assassin's Creed stand out as one of the better action films of the year.
We wouldn't hold that critic to that claim, but perhaps there is something worth watching in there, even if you have to turn your brain off to enjoy it.
