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Assassin's Creed | 2016 | PG-13 | - 1.6.5
Based on the popular video game: A man (Michael Fassbender) is persuaded to embark in a program that will allow him to connect with his ancestors from 1492 in order to track down an item that is thought to contain the secret by which violence among humans can be eliminated. Also with Marion Cotillard, Jeremy Irons, Brendan Gleeson, Charlotte Rampling, Michael Kenneth Williams, Denis Ménochet, Ariane Labed, Khalid Abdalla and Essie Davis. Directed by Justin Kurzel. Several lines of dialogue are in Spanish with English subtitles. [2:20]
SEX/NUDITY 1 - A man removes his shirt and we see his bare chest, abdomen and back.
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VIOLENCE/GORE 6 - A man holds a knife to a woman's throat and she thrusts the knife in, killing herself. A man holds a knife to a woman's throat and she leans into the blade, killing herself (we see blood pool under her head on the floor). A man's throat is slit in front of a large crowd of people and we see blood on his collar as people scream and scatter.
► A pre-teen boy finds his mother dead and a pool of blood is shown on the floor (we do not see blood on the body). We see several people in flames while lashed to a stake from a distance (we see a charred silhouette and others in flames). A man in a square is shown being set on fire and flames roar up to the top of his head; another man chained to a stake breaks his chains and frees a woman before the flames get too close, the man and the woman fight many guards and run up scaffolding and jump rooftops while continuing to fight and while being shot at with arrows; they continue to run and fight and the woman glides across a rope between buildings while a man walks across many ropes before one is cut and he falls (he is OK).
► Several battle and fight scenes show many people fighting with swords and arrows: we see slashing and stabbing (with crunching and slashing sounds), there are fire bombs that explode and men are thrown off buildings and structures. A man jumps from a rooftop and stabs a man on the ground (we hear a crunch), while several other people fight with swords, arrows and knives (people are seen slashing and stabbing and we hear crunching). A man fights with an imagined swordsman, then 2 orderlies and 4 guards dispatching them all; one man hits him in the face with a nightstick (we see the man's bloody mouth and blood drools down his chin). A man uses a garrote on another man and they fight briefly before the attacker is subdued when he is shot in the shoulder with an arrow and stabbed in the back (we see blood on his shirt). Many people fight with swords, arrows and knives and we see blood red water flowing through a stream. Two men fight and one is shot in the chest with an arrow, then stabbed in the neck (twice) and we see some blood on the wounds as he gurgles and dies. A man is surrounded by many armed men and jumps off a drawbridge into water below (he's OK). A man fights a guard in a facility and stabs him in the chest (we hear a thud), a man is stabbed in the back (we hear a crunch) and a guard is kicked through a plate glass window. A man with a knife finds another man and threatens him with the knife as they talk; he then puts the knife down and leaves. A young boy is placed in a cage on a carriage and a woman speeds away with him; the woman fights several men who try to get the boy and she dispatches them all (no blood is shown). Two men on a speeding carriage fight and they are both thrown; one lands in another carriage and they speed toward a cliff, the carriage goes over and the man and a boy dangle from a rope.
► A man slams something down on another man's hand and we understand that his finger has been cut off (we see blood spilling from the wound and later see the stump healed). A shackled prisoner is led through a hallway to a chair where he is strapped and an IV is inserted into his arm; we see a drug moving through a tube toward his arm as he hyperventilates and begins seeing his life pass before him. Prisoners are shown chained to a wall before being taken to the square a burning. A man is strapped into a belt that is attached to a large mechanical arm and a device is attached to his neck (it is referred to as an epidural and he screams the first time it is attached); as he moves the mechanical arm lifts him and moves him around the room.
► Many armed men surround a house where a man and a dead woman are; we do not see what happens. A young boy is violently yanked out of a hiding place in the floor of a barn and his hair is pulled back to show his face. A woman is shoved by a man asking for information about where a boy is. A man orders the death of a man's family by hanging while he watches and we see two children taken away by guards as the man orders the village to be burned. A man grabs a woman by the throat and questions her about what is happening to him and where he is; he slams the wall behind her (she is not harmed).
► A man with a knife moves toward a pre-teen boy and tells him, "Live in the shadows," and the boy runs away. A priest enters a prison cell and the prisoner asks, "You here to save my soul?" As he dies a prisoner says, "Tell my father I will see him in hell." A man says to a woman, "I'm an aggressive person." A woman tells a man that he was born with a pre-disposition to violence. A man says that he killed a pimp. A woman says that her mother was killed by an assassin and a man says that his father killed his mother. A woman says, "Violence is a disease." A woman tells a man, "When I die today, don't waste your tears." A man presiding over the burning of prisoners calls for the "Holy Fire of God," and "Behold God's Will." A woman tells a man that he has had, "A neurologic split."
► A pre-teen boy rides his bike on a roof and jumps off the edge, crashing into a freight container and then falling to the ground (we see him with bloody scratches on his face but he gets up and rides away). A man pulls an IV out of his arm and tries to walk, but collapses on the floor a few times before crawling and pulling himself through the halls of a building; eventually he stands on a ledge where another man tells him to jump (he does not). A man cringes in pain a few times from the aftereffects of a lethal injection. A man wakes in a start and imagines another man with a knife moving toward him violently. A man has a seizure, and he thrashes and foams at the mouth (he is OK later).
► We see a painting of people being burned at the stake (flames engulf their legs and halfway up their bodies). We see medical scans of a man's brain and head, as well as fluids and tissue on screens in several scenes. A man is lowered into a bath and he says that he cannot feel his legs (he is seen in a wheelchair alter and walking again after that). Many people in a room seem to have a variety of physical disabilities including filmy eyes
LANGUAGE 5 - At least 1 F-word, 1 scatological term, name-calling (dangerous man, pioneer, voodoo poisoner, heathen), 3 religious exclamations (a priest prays and says "Lord wash away my sin, God will punish them, " a man presiding over the burning of prisoners calls for the "Holy Fire of God" and "Behold God's Will."
SUBSTANCE USE - A man is injected through an IV with a lethal drug after having been sentenced to death, a man is injected with an "epidural" that is attached to a computer in a few scenes, and a man is shot in the neck with a sedative dart and falls to the floor (he is OK later). A man drinks from a glass of brandy.
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DISCUSSION TOPICS - The Knights Templar, The Inquisition, free will, freedom of thought, capital murder, trust, rehabilitation, eradicating violence from society, anti-social behavior, aggression, cure for violence, Civil Liberties, standard of life, religious discord, sexism, genetics, "leap of faith."
MESSAGE - Nothing is true. Mankind cannot be redeemed.
CAVEATS
Be aware that while we do our best to avoid spoilers it is impossible to disguise all details and some may reveal crucial plot elements.
We've gone through several editorial changes since we started covering films in 1992 and older reviews are not as complete & accurate as recent ones; we plan to revisit and correct older reviews as resources and time permits.
Our ratings and reviews are based on the theatrically-released versions of films; on video there are often Unrated, Special, Director's Cut or Extended versions, (usually accurately labelled but sometimes mislabeled) released that contain additional content, which we did not review.
Moana 2 - 1.3.1
Gladiator II - 2.7.2
Wicked: Part I - 3.4.2
Bonhoeffer: Pastor. Spy. Assassin. - 1.5.3
Emilia Pérez - 6.6.7
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