Assassin's Creed: Lineage [Blu-Ray]

While Assassin's Creed: Lineage is packaged as a movie prequel for Assassin's Creed II, telling the story of Ezio's father, Giovanni, the actual movie is only half-an-hour in length, leaving most of the disc littered with interviews, trailers and promotional materials for the entire franchise. The action film, which is shot mostly from high and low angles to remind us of its French-Canadian origins, smartly borrows its set design and aesthetic entirely from the videogame, giving credence to its humble origin story ambitions. Opening with the assassination of the Duke of Milan in 16th Century Italy, the story follows Giovanni (Romano Orzari) during his investigation, revealing a much larger web of conspiracy leading up to the second game. This film, which is a collection of three shorts released back in 2009, actually features some decent action and costume design, not having the cheap quality of most videogame promotional entertainment. It also eschews the Desmond Miles factor entirely, figuring that anyone familiar with the first game would know the whole reliving of genetic memories premise. Also included on the disc is the animated short for Assassin's Creed: Ascendance, which is really just an expository account of what happened between Assassin's Creed II and Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, detailing Cesare Borgia's rise to power. It's actually far less interesting than some of the interviews and making-of supplements included with the set, which discuss the success of the franchise and the many efforts made to create a comprehensive mythology. The writers and creators discuss their intentions, noting the thematic vein of vengeance, giving some context for the series and where it might go. Of course, since it's French-Canadian, they all say "mudder" and "fodder" instead of mother and father.