Film: Assassin's Creed

GENRE: Action, Fantasy

RATING: PG-13 for violence and some strong language
RUNTIME: 2 hours and 20 minutes

STARRING: Michael Fassbender (X-Men: First Class; Macbeth-2015)

Marion Cotillard (Inception), Jeremy Irons (Die Hard 3, Lion King)

DIRECTOR: Justin Kurzel (Macbeth-2015)

WRITERS: Michael Lesslie (Macbeth-2015)

Adam Cooper & Bill Collage (Allegiant, Tower Heist)

PLOT: A death row convict learns he is a descendant of a secret assassins society.

FULL DISCLOSURE: I really enjoy playing their video games.

STORY STUFF: What a waste. There was so much potential for this film but it was squandered. Imagine being invited to take part in a role playing game but spending most of your time going over instructions, eating chips and being distracted by constant interruptions. That was this movie. There were a couple cool action scenes (especially the parkour stuff) but there was also a lot of standing around and staring seriously at each other. There was a scene that took place in a cathedral (it looked identical to the game). In the video game, you need to climb the walls, jump across chandeliers and tip toe across beams. It’s intense. In the movie, the bad guys walk in, grab a box and walk out. What a waste.

ACTING STUFF: Some really good staring. Not much else to report.

ARTISTIC STUFF: I just wish they spent 90% of the film in the past where the production values were pretty decent. There was way too much cutting between the past and the animus controlling Fassbender so they could show off their holograms. Also, the 3D was just a cash grab as it was pretty pointless.

VERDICT: One star out of five

SEE IT IF: You want to see Fassbender without a shirt for a few minutes

UPCOMING REVIEWS: Passengers