The first trailer for the Assassin's Creed film is here, and so far, it looks like the curse of bad video game movies may finally be lifted. From the costumes to the action, the trailer immediately captures what makes Ubisoft's hit game franchise so popular.
It also raises plenty of new questions for longtime fans of the series. The Assassin's Creed movie isn't an adaptation, but rather a new original story set in the same universe as that of the games, comics and books that came before it. That means it will have a place in the existing Assassin's Creed timeline and could even tease or hint at what is to come in future game installments.
So far, there are few details about when exactly the movie takes place in comparison to previous Assassin's Creed stories. We see glimpses of the present-day Abstergo Industries, which is once again resorting to kidnapping people who may have important genetic memories. Most of the games revolve around Abstergo attempting to hunt down ancient, powerful artifacts by exploring the memories of its Animus test subjects, but what exactly Abstergo is after in the movie remains unclear.
Speaking of the Animus, the trailer shows what appears to be a never-before-seen model of the machine that allows for users to explore the lives of their ancestors. Previously, the various Animus machines used by the modern-day Templars and Assassins have been nothing more than fancy reclining chairs, but this new Animus is far different. It looks as if the user of this Animus not only gets to relive the memories of their ancestors, but actually gets to play them out in the real world.
The machine attaches to Michael Fassbender's waist and looks to serve as a giant mechanical bungie cord. Fassbender's character can also be seen wearing the iconic Assassin hidden blades in the present-day while hooked up to the machine. This all seems to indicate that Fassbender won't be laying motionless in a chair when he's experiencing the past, but rather will be running, jumping and fighting in a test chamber-like room.
It appears that this new Animus will, in many ways, be training Fassbender's character. Later in the trailer, we see him firing a bow. Assassin's Creed games established that the skills and abilities of ancestors can be passed on to those living in the present-day via the Animus in a process called the "bleeding effect." That effect will be working on Fassbender's character as well, which makes perfect sense, given how his body looks like it will be performing many of the same physical feats as that of his ancestor.
Rather than merely adapting the story of one game, the Assassin's Creed movie looks like it will be pushing the franchise forward with new ideas and new technology. That should give fans of the game franchise plenty of reason to check out the full film when it arrives in theaters on Dec. 21, 2016.
