'Assassin's Creed' Featurette Explains Genetic Time Travel And The Animus

This holiday season, Hollywood will get yet another attempt at proving they can turn a video game into a decent movie. Warcraft wasn't the hit that Legendary Pictures hoped it would be, even if it was the most successful video game movie of all time, so now 20th Century Fox is hoping Assassin's Creed can do the trick.

Michael Fassbender stars in the movie about a man who is hooked up to a machine called The Animus that allows a team of scientists to tap into the experiences of his ancestors. A new Assassin's Creed featurette dives into the science of the machine's genetic time travel and explains how the concept of the video game is being adapted into a movie.

While I think the concept of The Animus is an interesting one, the way it's executed in the footage we've seen so far leaves something to be desired. Obviously, most of the time we'll just see the story unfold in 15th century Spain where Callum Lynch's consciousness is being sent back to. There appear to be more than a few sequences that show us what's happening in present day, but the visual effects in these moments don't look that great, and the action doesn't really impress me so far.

The one thing that does have me curious is exactly what these people want from Callum Lynch. The answer is something that players of the video game franchise already know, but it's something that I'm interested to find out in the movie. Even so, I can't say that I'm not necessarily excited about this movie just yet. Hopefully that will change as the movie gets closer.

Through a revolutionary technology that unlocks his genetic memories, Callum Lynch (Michael Fassbender) experiences the adventures of his ancestor, Aguilar, in 15th Century Spain. Callum discovers he is descended from a mysterious secret society, the Assassins, and amasses incredible knowledge and skills to take on the oppressive and powerful Templar organization in the present day.

Assassin's Creed stars Academy Award nominee Michael Fassbender (X-Men: Days of Future Past, 12 Years a Slave) and Academy Award winner Marion Cotillard (The Dark Knight Rises, La Vie en Rose). The film is directed by Justin Kurzel (Snowtown, Macbeth), produced by New Regency, Ubisoft Motion Pictures, DMC Films and Kennedy/Marshall, co-financed by RatPac Entertainment and Alpha Pictures; and distributed by 20th Century Fox.

Assassin's Creed opens in theaters worldwide on December 21.