They say that to succeed you have to be the first or be the best, but the truth is that things are not that simple. History is full of pioneers who failed precisely because they were the first. Also, there is no doubt, the world is full of failures much better than triumphs. When the secret of success is clear we will all be millionaires and the lack of risk will make everything boring.
After years of attempts at video game adaptations, now is when these stories are regularly succeeding. The Mario Bros. movie was a success that few expected. And both ‘The Last of Us’, ‘Arcane: League of Legends’ and ‘Fallout’ seem to have already established high-budget, high-quality television as safe territory for video game adaptations. They even seem like a safer success now than continuing to make the most of sagas that seemed proven effective like Star Wars or ‘The Lord of the Rings’. Years ago it would have been crazy to say that a ‘God of War’ series is more likely to be successful than a ‘Lord of the Rings’ series, but now it seems like a logical statement.
However, in recent years, films have been lost along the way that were neither the first nor the best in bringing video games to the cinema, but that deserve a greater memory than the place we gave them at the time. We could talk, for example, about ‘Uncharted’, but we have to talk about another one that leaves Netflix this June 10. Yes, you only have 2 days to watch ‘Assassin’s Creed’ on Netflix.
We won’t lie to you, the 2016 film was a notable failure. It aimed, in fact, to become a franchise that never arrived and possibly will never arrive. But the truth is that we believe that in 2024 its reception would be different. The film took on the task of adapting the universe of the famous Ubisoft franchise and did so with an attractive original story set in the Spanish inquisition. The saga’s strength has never been the story and its character development, but rather its historical setting, its world, and its action scenes. However, the fact that the majority of protagonists in the video game saga are simple and poorly developed or that the sci-fi plot is increasingly blurred does not mean that the context of everything is not complex.
‘Assassin’s Creed’ took on the arduous task of explaining this entire world where we can revive the memories of our ancestors through genetics and change history. For doing so, for being a story of origins, it suffered from a certain accelerated and confusing pace. However, everything could have been a toll to pay for a saga that grew with its future adventures and that we will now never see. In our review of ‘Assassin’s Creed’ we said:
The result is a film diminished by a trivial macgufin and the already topical flaws of the founding stories – which finds its best tone and rhythm in some electric action scenes executed with millimetric precision with Kurzel’s already characteristic sieve, which contrast, or They better underline the fragility of narrative sutures.
A statement that we can continue to maintain. However, this ambitious production directed by Kurzel with Fassbender in the lead role remains an ambitious and attractive story. With Marion Cotillard, Jeremy Irons, Charlotte Rampling, Brendan Gleeson, Michael K. Williams, Carlos Bardem, Javier Gutiérrez and Hovik Keuchkerian in the cast, there has not been another more ambitious video game adaptation to film. Imperfect, somewhat far from video games for fans, but also spectacular and intriguing. A good attempt that was neither the best nor the first, but neither the worst nor the last. Now ‘Assassin’s Creed’ is leaving Netflix, and the truth is that it deserves a farewell viewing.
Rafael is an expert in movies, series and video games. His thing is classic and auteur cinema, although he doesn’t miss one from Marvel or the hit of the moment on Netflix due to professional deformation. He also has a geeky side to him, as proven by his specialization in anime, k-pop, and everything related to Asian culture.
By generation, sometimes he has to write about current musical hits, from Bizarrap to Blackpink. It even has its erotic side, but limited, unfortunately, to selecting the best of erotic series and movies. But he doesn’t limit himself there, since he also likes to write about gastronomy, travel, humor and memes.
After 5 years writing for Fotogramas and Esquire, the truth is that he has already done a little bit of everything, from interviews with international stars to mobile phone presentations or tastings of oil, insects and, yes, if he’s lucky, wine.
He trained in Audiovisual Communication at the University of Murcia. She later continued at the Carlos III University of Madrid with a Master’s Degree in Research in Media. In addition to beginning a doctorate on sexual representation in arthouse cinema (which she never finished), she also studied a Master’s degree in film criticism, both at ECAM and at the Writers’ School. Before, he cut his teeth writing on the Cinealacarbonara blog, continued in media such as Amanecemetropolis, Culturamas or Magnolia Magazine, and dedicated all his efforts to Mutaciones Magazine since its foundation.
He arrived at Hearst in 2018 and managed to carve out a niche for himself in the editorial offices of Fotogramas and Esquire, with which he continues to write about everything he likes and what they send him (often coincides). His good or bad taste (depending on how you look at it) also led him to get into the world of gastronomy and video games. Come on, he likes to entertain himself.
