Why bother having a present-day aspect to the stort? Spain in 1492 is a far more rich and colourful period than 2016 in the UK/US. This hardly needs time travel/sci-fi on top of the detailed historical context already provided. Every time they switched to the modern day (which must be 75% of the time) my hopes of watchinng a decent movie were blunted and then finally extinguished altogether.
shareConsidering they completely butchered and made a mockery of 1492 Spain history, I'm glad they didn't concentrate too much on the past.
shareNot entirely. Without looking it up, from knowledge Granada was very much the final stronghold of Moorish Spain, the Catholic Monarchs had united Christian Spain and the Inquisition was in full operation. Also, Colon (Columbus) was on his way to landing at Hispaniola (Haiti). So, add in the extra stuff - Templars, assassins and this apple business - withour demolishing the 1492 narrative and I'd say that would have the mkaings of something interesting
shareIn the game, which the movie is based on, there is a present day aspect. It's not just a period movie, it's supposed to combine science, history, creeds, sci-fi etc. Take out the Animus and the whole premise of Abstergo and the Assassin's in present day and you don't have the Assassin's Creed franchise but a movie is based on the Assassin's but not the classoc AC that fans know and love.
shareI don't play the game but my son (who I watched the movie with) has. He explained how the films work but agreed with me that it would have worked better as a movie experience to just be set in Spain. I suspect that what works for a game doesn't work for a movie and that instead of slavishly following the ethos of the game the writer/director should have considered what works best as a piece of cinema.
shareWell, considering that even the games have dropped the present day nonsence that no one liked, I wasn't expecting that much of it in the movie. But, I forgot about how the games started: non-skippable present day cutscenes.
I don't play the game but my son (who I watched the movie with) has. He explained how the films work but agreed with me that it would have worked better as a movie experience to just be set in Spain. I suspect that what works for a game doesn't work for a movie and that instead of slavishly following the ethos of the game the writer/director should have considered what works best as a piece of cinema.
shareOllie, I understand what you're saying and in some ways agree. But without the Animus it wouldn't be Assassin's Creed, rather simply a period action movie. This adaptation has been the Ubisoft film department's baby for years (after the mess of The Prince of Persia). It's their biggest game series, their universe, their movie; and to be honest, I think it was made for the millions of Assassin's Creed game fans not the general movie goer (right or wrong).
Maybe the sequel can address some of these issues. Personally, as a huge fan of the games and movies in general, I really enjoyed the film.
...that's like saying you are just an ape. ~ Autómata
You need the present day stuff to give the past stuff stakes, but it was heavily overdone in order to try and set up a franchise. The other big problem was that neither of the main characters are fun or likeable, it was a huge missed opportunity.
shareExactly! Just like in the games, they will probably phase out much of the present day stuff. Which is how we like it anyway. The historical aspect is far more interesting but needs the present day story for perspective. And like you said, to setup and hopefully perpetuate the series. In effect, the present day part of the story allows virtually infinite possibilities for the historical.
shareI actually played AC1-3 for the story, AC4: BF kinda killed the story so I wont be returning to the games just because it bears the AC name
the movie, from a fan perspective, was a bit overdone.
the animus is nothing like it should be
but I generally liked the movie
1101?
I would have settled for the split in the movie between present day and olden time Spain if they didn't keep *beep* cutting to the present day during almost every single *beep* action scene in the 'past'. I understood the first time. Like the game, when your in the past it should be immersive as possible, not ruined by cuts.
shareWhat you mentioned is exactly the problem with the games as well. They were always dragged down by the completely convoluted and downright unnecessary modern day plot, that most gamers didn't care about.
The games themselves never needed a sci-fi twist from the very first title. The developers, Ubisoft, kept the whole Animus thing going until they ran out of material. Gamers, like moviegoers, are far more interested on the whole historical context instead of the boring modern day side plot, so it's no surprise the movie suffers from the same problem. Can't blame them though. It didn't work in any of the games, why would it work in the movie?
I absolutely agree and said this in my post as well. Ubisoft is too arrogant to do anything about it. Unfortunately, the videogame third party world is terrible. A few companies dominate and they largely aren't worried about competition anymore. No one tries to stand out.
shareWhat you mentioned is exactly the problem with the games as well. They were always dragged down by the completely convoluted and downright unnecessary modern day plot, that most gamers didn't care about.
Yup. That junk was just part of why this sucked. Instead what could have been a decent movie we got two half baked turds. The way the movie would constantly cut back and forth between past and present during action scenes made me want to punch the director in the face.
shareThis is the problem with the game series, itself. I freaking hate it. In the game, they make the modern day world totally unlikable and frosty. It has no character, it's way too sterile.
shareIt used to have Desmond, which was good. Then Ubisoft took a good dump on the serie and started milking it for cash. Movie wasn't bad though.
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