Assassin’s Creed is one of the most popular action-adventure video games developed and published by Ubisoft. It got its start in 2007 at Ubisoft Montreal with the release of Assassin’s Creed. Media adaptations of Assassin’s Creed have been pretty sparse, but it did receive a movie back in 2016. However, the Assassin’s Creed movie was a complete and total flop for the franchise. In fact, it basically failed.
Video Game Adaptations Are Hard
Due to the nature of Assassin’s Creed, the story is extremely vast. Because of this, adapting it into a movie is no simple feat. Should the filmmaker choose to tell the story of Desmond and Altair from the first game, you risk not having anything unique to differentiate your film with.
Then, if you decide to create your own unique story, you are constrained by budgets and time restrictions. Movies usually max out at a little over 3 hours, otherwise, people would stop watching.
We are humans and can only engage with a piece of media for so long. So, a movie with too much explaining and not enough action will pan out too long and will be boring.
The issue with Assassin’s Creed over a franchise such as Call of Duty is that Assassin’s Creed’s entire core lies in its lore and its story.
Call of Duty could quite literally create a random story and you couldn’t really tell the difference. Call of Duty World War II is unrelated to Call of Duty Black Ops II, for instance. You don’t need to know one to know the other.
That’s pretty much the problem with adapting Assassin’s Creed into a movie though. You can’t just pick one up and expect to understand everything. You’ll still be confused and either have to play the other games or read into the lore. That is assuming that you care that much to know. But for a movie, I think it’s a problem to not know what’s going on.
The Assassin’s Creed Movie Wasn’t Easy to Understand
When the Assassin’s Creed movie came out in 2016, it presented us with a new story with an Assassin that lived in the time of the Spanish Inquisition.
It’s actually a great time period to explore. From the outside, it seems like a great premise.
Still, the issue didn’t come down to the premise or the film’s contents. It had action, adventure, violence, and character development. We got to see plenty of assassin action in Spain, an interesting modern-day perspective, hidden blades and more.
But the thing is, you probably loved it if you already loved the Assassin’s Creed franchise. Meanwhile, take someone that knows nothing about Assassin’s Creed and they’ll probably just be lost.
Caution is Needed for Video Game Adaptations!
When you try to adapt something into another medium, you have to be careful to think about how you’ll execute the adaptation to ensure that everyone knows what’s going on. It feels like the director simply didn’t know how to make an Assassin’s Creed movie that everyone would understand without glossing over things, but still, a lot of people didn’t understand.
The stunts were great in the film, with the stuntman for the assassin literally performing a 125-ft leap of faith, which I’m pretty sure is a feat of mankind, to be honest. But still, even with impressive stunts and action, people will still look for some level of substance to the story.
If I were someone completely unaware of Assassin’s Creed prior to watching the film, I’d probably just be downright confused about why the templars are villains, why the assassins fight them, why there are assassins in Andalusia in the first place, why the templars are working with the inquisition, what the inquisition has to do with assassins, and so on and so forth.
The thing is, you can afford to explain all of this in a game. Games can pan out for over a hundred hours if you wanted to and it would be considered perfectly fine. You don’t need to make a game wrap up with all details inserted before the three hour mark.
The Writing and Plot Were Not Very Interesting
You can make an adaptation that many can enjoy. Take a look at Netflix’s Arcane, which is based off of league of legends. I’ve never so much as even though to touch League of Legends, but I watched the show and was able to connect with it and immerse myself with it because the story was told in a way that made sense.
I didn’t care to look into the game behind it, and the writers ensured that the show made sense for people like me. The vast majority of its viewers have likely never touched League either, so it’s important. Sure, it was a TV show so there’s more time, but I think you get my point.
But beyond this, I think it also comes down to the content of the film itself. Because, you see, enjoy the action all you like–characters and plot are important in a cinematic context.
The Games Have More Excitement
Throughout the Assassin’s Creed games, we get plenty of character development and time to grow and learn with the other characters. In a video game, it’s pretty easy to ensure that you have proper character development.
Video game main stories can last as long as the designer wants them to, so you have plenty of time to ensure that your characters are good and make sense. Now, whether or not that’s the case in every game is obviously up for debate.
Still, with a shorter project like a movie, you have to effectively make a good character that changes so that they are dynamic and interesting enough for the viewer to feel connected to.
Callum, the main character, wasn’t really that interesting. I wanted to see more of the Aguilar and the assassins in Andalusia, but they didn’t really get much character development either.
The one-dimensionality and lack of real dynamic change made the characters empty. Their dialogue is also pretty lacking. The script felt half-finished and written at the last second.
The modern-day story could’ve been so much better and it could’ve been given more attention, but the movie was fighting between making an interesting ancestor sequence and an interesting modern-day story without giving the proper level of attention to either.
Conclusions
Pile on a bland set of characters, wasted opportunities to make a better story, decent but lackluster action, and no explanations for non-fans, you’ve got the recipe for why the Assassin’s Creed movie failed.
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Zainah Yousef
Zainah Yousef is the author of The Fallen Age Saga and specializes in gaming, social media advice, and reviews. She's been writing all her life and she probably won't stop anytime soon.
