Film Preview: Assassin’s Creed (2016)

Page Revisions:

(May 15, 2016) Original
(October 23, 2016) New Trailer (#2) / New Posters (#2-#3)
(December 11, 2016) New Trailer (#3) / New Posters (#4-#5)

Release Date:

December 21, 2016

Synopsis:

From IMDb: “When Callum Lynch (Michael Fassbender) explores the memories of his ancestor Aguilar and gains the skills of a Master Assassin, he discovers he is a descendant of the secret Assassins society.”

Poster Rating: B+ / B- / B- / C / C+

SEE ALL POSTERS BELOW
Review: (#1) If you’re a fan of the video game, this poster will stir all the right feelings for your interest in the film. For everyone else, it’s still an interesting image.

(#2) Another design that those familiar with the game will be excited to see. Unfortunately, unlike its predecessor, this one feels like it lacks detail even though it’s chock full of it. (#3) This design, while certainly less dynamic, is perfectly fitting the premise of the plot. The duality of the character at play in a single design. This would intrigue me more as a fan of the game than the prior two.

(#4) That dull white background doesn’t do this design any favors. It also doesn’t help putting all these characters inside the main character. It makes it all sound like it’s in this guy’s imagination, which isn’t what the film seems to be about. (#5) The white background is still a distraction without embellishment, but the internal graphics are interesting in their kaleidoscopic way.

Trailer Rating: B- / C / B+

SEE ALL TRAILERS BELOW
Review: (#1) I often rag on trailers for not telling us enough about the story, but sometimes trying to explain the story, even superficially, in a trailer isn’t a good idea. Here is the perfect example. There are still plenty of elements to make the film look interesting, but this trailer is too poorly constructed to be ultimately successful.

(#2) Apart from the awful accompanying soundtrack, this trailer is filled to the brim with plot summation details, setting the film up, but making it look rather unexciting as a result. Sometimes having a few good mysteries can help, but this seems to lay most of it right out there. There are still secrets, but after this trailer, I’m not sure I’m interested in finding out what they are.

(#3) This action-heavy trailer will be much better at selling the film to the target audience. There’s plenty of intrigue and excitement while making the film not look like the dull video game adaptation everyone will be expecting.

Oscar Prospects:

Video game adaptations just aren’t Oscar bait, not even when they star Oscar nominee Michael Fassbender and Oscar winners Marion Cotillard and Jeremy Irons.