Why 'Assassin's Creed' Could Be the First Videogame Movie That Isn't Terrible

After 'Super Mario Bros.', 'Street Fighter: Legend of Chun Li', 'House of the Dead' and million others, could this this actually be lit?

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The first trailer for the Assassin’s Creed move has dropped, and shockingly, it actually looks pretty good. Of course, this is only a trailer, but it already looks far better than pretty much any other movie based on a videogame ever made. 

It’s got an incredible cast, with Michael Fassbender in the dual lead role as both the present day protagonist and his 15th century assassin ancestor, and he’s supported by Marion Cotillard, Michael K. Williams, and Jeremy Irons. Plus it’s directed by acclaimed filmmaker Justin Kurzel (Snowtown, Macbeth). Of course, it could be that they’re all just doing it for the money, and this expertly-cut trailer is just tricking us (the liberal use of a Kanye instrumental is has also got us hooked—remember how well Tinie Tempah was used to sell Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood?).

But the real reason why this could be the one actually-decent videogame movie is much deeper than that. Since the time when they were first able display graphics more complicated than just coloured squares, games have always aped movies in their plots and scenarios. That makes sense—video games give you the chance to ‘do’ things that you never could in real life, be that score in a World Cup final, be a secret agent, or fight dragons and aliens. So of course they’d take things from your favourite films.

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