I have questions.
I have casting questions in particular, but we'll get to that.
I was asked by a couple of people what I thought of this film, within a few minutes of finishing it.
My first response was as above - I have questions - and then I decided, that it wasnt a terrible film, but it didnt blow my face off at any point. I smirked a couple of times and got slightly excited when Fassbender did his first (of far too many) superhero landing, but other than that, nothing excited me, apart from when Jeremy Irons said something to Marion Cotillard about her 'Elegant openings' and we had a laughing fit.
I'm jumping ahead of myself as usual. I'll start again.
Assassin's Creed, is an American action adventure film, based on the video game series of the same name. Although it is set in the same universe as the game, this presents us with a whole new story and a whole host of original characters.
I've never played the game, so I only know what my research has told me - In fact I'd only actually heard of the games existence because of that wonderfully infectous advert, for Assassin's Creed 2, in around 2009, the song was Genesis by Justice. (Spotify it and you will recognise it immediately)
Anywayyyyy......I digress.
I've been excited for this film for God knows how many months, the trailer looked full of promise and action packed thrills - it just didn't quite deliver and I will try and explain why.
Someone had told me it was shit before I even stepped foot in the cinema and his reasons were as follows; "There wasn't much back story" (agreed) "It went too fast" (also agreed) and "The action sequences were meh" (Bullshit).
He is correct in saying there wasn't much back story, I admit it was slightly confusing but I kind of like that we weren't spoon fed the plot like a bunch of divs, unlike the disasterous 'Inferno' of a few months ago. You can follow the basic premise and thats enough I think, minute plot details aren't always necessary to enjoy a film.
It did indeed go wayyyy too fast, there was far too much going on at once and the plot was full of holes, it was literally like watching swiss cheese, but again, when there is so much action who really needs a plot??
The action sequences were in no way "meh", they were beautifully choreographed and expertly executed - a shirtless Fassbender made them 100 times better during the second act of the film. God, that man is ageing beautifully.
There was little to no secondary character development, or primary for that matter - not sure if that was lazy writing, time contraints, or just crappy story telling, but I still have absolutely no clue who certain members of the supporting cast were or what their purpose was.
The film was beautifully shot, showing off some gorgeous Maltese and spanish landscapes and rather pleasing sparkly sweeping shots of london by night, accompanied by seamless green screen/CGI, edited together so pristinely you could eat your dinner off it. The film should have looked like a clunky mess but I dont think it did.
The whole appearance of the film was very grainy and quite depressing actually but the obvious contrast between the steely greys of the 21st cetury and the golden tones of the 15th century served its purpose in order to differetiate the two timelines definitively.
The costume design by Sammy Sheldon was deserving of praise, you can see rudiments of her previous work all over the place - a touch of X Men and Ant Man mixed with Merchant of Venice and Stardust. Her presence on the crew roster also made me realise that the cast and crew are pretty much a who's who of Fassbenders mates (he also produced) - good on him! Always include your inner circle where you can.
Performances ranged from sturdy to absolutely fucking dire - a wonderful melting pot of gender/colour/age etc. Fassbender was perfectly cast and held his own as an outstanding and convincing action hero, Jeremy Irons was so marvelously sinister and menacing he really made me beam at the screen, Denis Menochet did his usual 'Gentle giant you dont really want to fuck with' performance and did it well, but I found myself getting lost in that adorable face, more than actually paying attention to the shitty script he was reciting.
Which brings me to the script - it was lazy at certain points, then far too overbearing at other points, it seems to me that the three writers didnt really know what they were going for, but then I can see why, becasue the film flip flops between 15th and 21st century. I cant even tell you that I really listened to any of the words, nothing really made an impact on me, but I know I was immediately sucked in by Fassbender soaring off a roof, like some kind of beautiful bird of prey and fucking everyone up with his wrist blade things, before he'd even hit the ground.
This post is an absolute jumbled mess - I'm beginning to understand how the writers felt.
I have to talk about my casting questions now, number one being; why Marion Cotillard?? She was TERRIBLE, wooden, boring etc. I'm not sure if she was told to deliver her lines like the Childlike Empress from The Never Ending Story, but thats exactly what she did and she did it in a completely indiscernible accent. She is French, let her be French, everyone else was throwing all kinds of accents about so what would it matter?? I still cant decide if she was trying to be english or american or spanish or Kathy Bates in Freak Show/Roanoke ha ha, my point is, whatever she was doing was bad. The only thing that saved her was her beautiful face.
The second being Michael K Williams - he's just not that good and his speech impediment makes him the least menacing antagonist, probably ever.
The ending was a highlight for me, it gave me chills, but thats just because i'm so dramatic. It actually left the story open for a second film - I hope to god they don't get the franchise they obviosuly hope for.
I've been enough of a bitch for one day, so to sum up, the film is actually a massive shit show BUT I think its worthy of a cinema trip (only if there is literally nothing else to watch and you simply must go to the cinema or you'll shrivel up and die) because it would be wasted on the small screen.
Also, shirtless Fassbender.
I have casting questions in particular, but we'll get to that.
I was asked by a couple of people what I thought of this film, within a few minutes of finishing it.
My first response was as above - I have questions - and then I decided, that it wasnt a terrible film, but it didnt blow my face off at any point. I smirked a couple of times and got slightly excited when Fassbender did his first (of far too many) superhero landing, but other than that, nothing excited me, apart from when Jeremy Irons said something to Marion Cotillard about her 'Elegant openings' and we had a laughing fit.
I'm jumping ahead of myself as usual. I'll start again.
Assassin's Creed, is an American action adventure film, based on the video game series of the same name. Although it is set in the same universe as the game, this presents us with a whole new story and a whole host of original characters.
I've never played the game, so I only know what my research has told me - In fact I'd only actually heard of the games existence because of that wonderfully infectous advert, for Assassin's Creed 2, in around 2009, the song was Genesis by Justice. (Spotify it and you will recognise it immediately)
Anywayyyyy......I digress.
I've been excited for this film for God knows how many months, the trailer looked full of promise and action packed thrills - it just didn't quite deliver and I will try and explain why.
Someone had told me it was shit before I even stepped foot in the cinema and his reasons were as follows; "There wasn't much back story" (agreed) "It went too fast" (also agreed) and "The action sequences were meh" (Bullshit).
He is correct in saying there wasn't much back story, I admit it was slightly confusing but I kind of like that we weren't spoon fed the plot like a bunch of divs, unlike the disasterous 'Inferno' of a few months ago. You can follow the basic premise and thats enough I think, minute plot details aren't always necessary to enjoy a film.
It did indeed go wayyyy too fast, there was far too much going on at once and the plot was full of holes, it was literally like watching swiss cheese, but again, when there is so much action who really needs a plot??
The action sequences were in no way "meh", they were beautifully choreographed and expertly executed - a shirtless Fassbender made them 100 times better during the second act of the film. God, that man is ageing beautifully.
There was little to no secondary character development, or primary for that matter - not sure if that was lazy writing, time contraints, or just crappy story telling, but I still have absolutely no clue who certain members of the supporting cast were or what their purpose was.
The film was beautifully shot, showing off some gorgeous Maltese and spanish landscapes and rather pleasing sparkly sweeping shots of london by night, accompanied by seamless green screen/CGI, edited together so pristinely you could eat your dinner off it. The film should have looked like a clunky mess but I dont think it did.
The whole appearance of the film was very grainy and quite depressing actually but the obvious contrast between the steely greys of the 21st cetury and the golden tones of the 15th century served its purpose in order to differetiate the two timelines definitively.
The costume design by Sammy Sheldon was deserving of praise, you can see rudiments of her previous work all over the place - a touch of X Men and Ant Man mixed with Merchant of Venice and Stardust. Her presence on the crew roster also made me realise that the cast and crew are pretty much a who's who of Fassbenders mates (he also produced) - good on him! Always include your inner circle where you can.
Performances ranged from sturdy to absolutely fucking dire - a wonderful melting pot of gender/colour/age etc. Fassbender was perfectly cast and held his own as an outstanding and convincing action hero, Jeremy Irons was so marvelously sinister and menacing he really made me beam at the screen, Denis Menochet did his usual 'Gentle giant you dont really want to fuck with' performance and did it well, but I found myself getting lost in that adorable face, more than actually paying attention to the shitty script he was reciting.
Which brings me to the script - it was lazy at certain points, then far too overbearing at other points, it seems to me that the three writers didnt really know what they were going for, but then I can see why, becasue the film flip flops between 15th and 21st century. I cant even tell you that I really listened to any of the words, nothing really made an impact on me, but I know I was immediately sucked in by Fassbender soaring off a roof, like some kind of beautiful bird of prey and fucking everyone up with his wrist blade things, before he'd even hit the ground.
This post is an absolute jumbled mess - I'm beginning to understand how the writers felt.
I have to talk about my casting questions now, number one being; why Marion Cotillard?? She was TERRIBLE, wooden, boring etc. I'm not sure if she was told to deliver her lines like the Childlike Empress from The Never Ending Story, but thats exactly what she did and she did it in a completely indiscernible accent. She is French, let her be French, everyone else was throwing all kinds of accents about so what would it matter?? I still cant decide if she was trying to be english or american or spanish or Kathy Bates in Freak Show/Roanoke ha ha, my point is, whatever she was doing was bad. The only thing that saved her was her beautiful face.
The second being Michael K Williams - he's just not that good and his speech impediment makes him the least menacing antagonist, probably ever.
The ending was a highlight for me, it gave me chills, but thats just because i'm so dramatic. It actually left the story open for a second film - I hope to god they don't get the franchise they obviosuly hope for.
I've been enough of a bitch for one day, so to sum up, the film is actually a massive shit show BUT I think its worthy of a cinema trip (only if there is literally nothing else to watch and you simply must go to the cinema or you'll shrivel up and die) because it would be wasted on the small screen.
Also, shirtless Fassbender.