Michael Fassbender's Video Game Movie Flop Is Finding An Audience On Max
If you're a huge fan of wasting your time and money, there's historically not a surer way to maximize the squandering of both than strolling down to your local multiplex and paying full admission to watch a movie based on a video game. With astonishingly few exceptions ("Werewolves Within," "Silent Hill," and the first "Resident Evil" come to mind), video games have proved stubbornly resistant to film adaptation. There are numerous reasons for this, but the one hurdle that most filmmakers seem incapable of clearing is that watching a game isn't nearly as fun as playing one. Sounds crazy, but I really think there's something to it!
With this in mind, studios have trouble entrusting their would-be video game movie franchises to top flight directors. "Werewolves Within" is an outlier on account of being an indie film adaptation of a game that wasn't widely known outside of hardcore gaming circles, which allowed director Josh Ruben and screenwriter Mishna Wolff to basically do their own thing. "Silent Hill" was fortunate to snag a world-class filmmaker in Christophe Gans ("Brotherhood of the Wolf"), who was looking to make the leap from France to Hollywood. As for "Resident Evil," after zombie maestro George A. Romero's failed attempt to bring the game to the big screen, Constantin Film wisely went to hack du jour Paul W.S. Anderson, who delivered a mildly-above-average horror flick that was wildly derivative, but, again, based on a video game so expectations were exceptionally low.
It would seem the key to making a decent video game movie is to hire an up-and-coming director with visual flair and tempered ambition. You're not out to make an all-timer. The task is to simply deliver a movie that doesn't make viewers want to walk out midway through and play the game themselves. One film that accomplished this was a bomb upon its initial theatrical release, but is now quite popular on Max.
Assassin's Creed has found its following on streaming
Created by Patrick Désilets, Jade Raymond, and Corey May, "Assassin's Creed" became a video game sensation by turning its protagonist into a thrillingly playable parkour expert. People spent hours upon hours hopping around the richly detailed open-world environment of the Holy Land in 1191. Sequels plopped the hero (who is actually a modern day dude using a device called the Animus to embody his genetic ancestors) in places like the Italian Renaissance and the American colonies of the 18th century. The stories weren't anything mind-blowing, but the gameplay was irresistible.
While "Assassin's Creed" appeared to have the potential to become a great video game movie based on the involvement of producer Frank Marshall and star Michael Fassbender, it wound up being a fascinating, hyper-stylized sci-fi flick that's never tedious but also never particularly coherent. Directed by Justin Kurzel, who made an outstanding adaptation of "Macbeth" in 2015 featuring Fassbender and Marion Cotillard, does his best to keep things visually interesting, and consistently succeeds on this front. "Assassin's Creed" is a cool movie to look at, which might be why it's currently the second most popular movie on Max, according to FlixPatrol. If you're taken with it, make sure to watch the alternate ending.
"Assassin's Creed" is a rarity in that it's a video game movie I could see myself watching again. If you dig Kurzel's work here, I highly recommend checking out his inexplicably overlooked 2024 thriller "The Order," which made /Film's list of the most underrated movies of 2024. He's an immensely talented filmmaker whose best work is likely ahead of him.