Given that it is a direct-to-home video prequel (originally distributed online) released to promote a video game series, Assassin’s Creed Lineage qualifies as at least a nice surprise, or at least a less grim outlook on the future than one might have thought. Major studios have experimented with releasing promotional material in different mediums (comic book prequels were released for Southland Tales, Superman Returns, and Inception), and it is conceivable that one day the boundaries between video games, television, film, and comics might be dissolved altogether. The bad side is that it could even further commercialize media production, but it could also allow stories to play to their strengths, and that seems to be what happened here.
As the story is essentially prologue, it’s hard to derive much more from it than is written on the back of the box. In renaissance Italy, the Duke of Milan is publicly assassinated, and the assassin Giovanni Auditore is commissioned to investigate. But during the course of his investigation, he uncovers a vast conspiracy that quickly sets its sights on him, turning him into a wanted man. The plot is nothing special, but what it lacks in creativity, it compensates in brevity. There's hardly a wasted shot in this film, the plotline of which is at least as complicated as any number of Hollywood feature films, merely condensed to its very essence. Whether or not that's enough to justify a purchase of a 35-minute short film remains to be seen, but for those of you who know what you're buying, it's hard to imagine being disappointed.
Bonus Features
Granted, if you are buying this set, you're probably buying it for the extras, which are about three times as long as the actual feature's running time. The additional CGI short Ascendance is included, along with a 'making-of' featurette for that, not to mention a 'making-of' for the actual feature and a trailer for Assassin's Creed Revelations. Then there are numerous additional 'features', mostly in the form of Developer Diaries and various trailers created for both Assassin's Creed and Assassin's Creed II. On the whole, the set feels like a supplemental feature unto itself, but it's nevertheless a purchase to consider for fans.
"Assassin's Creed: Lineage" is on sale November 15, 2011 and is not rated. Action. Directed by Yves Simoneau. Written by William Reymond. Starring Romano Orzari, Claudia Ferri, Devery Jacobs.
