If you’re new to the Assassin’s Creed series, the latest trailer for the game-to-film adaptation should give you an idea of what to expect: Michael Fassbender’s Callum Lynch kicking plenty of ass in both present and past.
“His name is Callum Lynch,” a suited figure says as Lynch attacks security guards and is then led into a prison facility in shackles. “We’ve traced his bloodline back 500 years to the Assassin’s Creed.”
Callum is hooked up to a machine that begins injecting him with a mysterious clear fluid, and is told by Dr. Sophia Rikkin — played by Oscar winner Marion Cotillard — that for all intents and purposes, he no longer exists.
“This is your second chance,” Rikkin says as Callum Lynch is outfitted with the Assassin equipment his ancestors once used. Callum is then connected to the Animus via a Matrix-like invasive spike device and is then lifted into the air by a mechanical arm — it’s much more violent than the Animus units we see in the games, but it takes Lynch back to the Spanish Inquisition just the same.
“What I saw in there … it felt real,” Lynch says as we see his ancestor Aguilar lead a group of Assassins. He dodges crossbow fire, leaps from buildings, and takes out several unsuspecting targets. Perhaps the best shot is of Lynch destroying a carriage before throwing out a grappling hook to stop himself from plummeting off a cliff to his demise.
Though we’ve been open about the trouble with video game movies in the past, Ubisoft and Fox are certainly pulling out all the stops with Assassin’s Creed. In addition to Fassbender and Cotillard, the cast also includes Jeremy Irons and Michael K. Williams.
Assassin’s Creed hits theaters on December 21. A virtual reality game tie-in is also expected to launch around the same time.
