Movie Review: ‘The Killer’
Plot: Based on the graphic novel by Alexis Nolent, director David Fincher’s latest delves audiences into the world of the eponymous Killer (Michael Fassbender). When a job in Paris goes disastrously awry, the blowback stretches all the way to The Killer’s home. Bent on revenge, The killer begins a methodical pursuit of his targets including fellow assassins The Expert (Tilda Swinton) and The Brute (Sala Baker). However, when the trail leads to a billionaire client, The Killer will have to decide whether the risk is worth the reward.
Review: David Fincher is one of the best directors of the last thirty years. Full stop. Films like Seven, Fight Club, Zodiac, and The Social Network will be taught in film schools for decades to come. He’s a master of precision, nuance, detail, shading, and subtext and is famously known for having his actors perform dozens of takes. Thanks in part to creative control, Fincher recently took the streaming route, with 2020’s Mank being his first Netflix original and The Killer being another Netflix movie. It was a critical darling racking up ten Oscar nominations. While I recognize the cinematic merits of Mank, it’s definitely a movie I liked and appreciated but didn’t love.
I fucking adored The Killer.
A sleek, slick, and calculated tale of revenge, The Killer delivers everything we’ve come to expect from a David Fincher film while simultaneously subverting our expectations about what a David Fincher film should be. Told exclusively from the first-person perspective of the title character, The Killer takes the traditional “botched assassination job gone wrong/path of revenge” trope and flips the paradigm on its head.
Fassbender’s Killer isn’t a passionate hothead but a cool and calculating instrument. Indeed, he makes it clear that he serves no God or flag. He’s an equal opportunity employer that’s effective because, as he says, “I. Don’t. Give. A. Fuck.” There’s no ideology or creed that gets in the way. He approaches his job like someone who punches in at an office every day. The fact that when we first meet Fassbender’s Killer he’s holing up in an abandoned WeWork office testifies to that concept. Good God, he even says “It’s not my place to formulate an opinion” and pines for more in-person work like a “nice, quiet drowning.” If this isn’t a commentary on how so many of us feel like cogs forever in service to the corporate machine, and the disconnect of online culture and remote work, then I don’t know what is. Strangely, it’s why we feel empathy for him. The Killer’s meticulous and logistical process is forever paramount to his existence. He’s meticulous and holds to a code that doesn’t allow for improvisation or empathy, that focuses exclusively on the battle he’s paid to fight.
Until his girlfriend, Magdala (Sophie Charlotte) is attacked, and it becomes personal.
It’s been a few years since Michael Fassbender stepped in front of a camera and his performance in The Killer is a much welcome return. In many ways, his performance in The Killer feels like a role he was destined to play. In spite of his aloofness and chosen profession, there’s a quality about his character I found endearing. We fully invest in his story and his quest for revenge because against all odds he’s likable and relatable. Aside from the voiceover, Fassbender is forced to use physical actions to convey emotions. There’s more going on with Fassbender’s significant stares and cheek twitches than some Shakespearean performances I’ve seen. You can credit that to Fassbender’s work, but also to the tight script of Andrew Kevin Walker, who re-teams with Fincher for the first time since Seven. In an era where too many films have become bloated corpses, there’s no fat on the bone in The Killer. While the concept is fairly straightforward, it never feels rote or cliché. It’s refreshing. Constant voiceover can be a gamble but for Walker and Fassbender it works.
Additionally, The Killer contains one of the sparsest scores I’ve ever heard. Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross contribute a score that’s more tones and chords than composition. Yet it reinforces the cold, at times sterile, tone of the movie creating a stellar vibe. Fincher instead makes The Killer an obsessed “The Smiths” fan with multiple signature songs peppered throughout.
As always director David Fincher delivers another gem for the jewelry box. Strangely, The Killer offers a glimpse into a parallel world where post-Fight Club, Fincher became a director for hire. I mean that in the best way possible. This is a movie devoid of pretension and steeped in Fincher’s style and approach. It’s almost self-referential, with the meticulous Killer being a stand-in for Fincher himself. It’s a film that constantly subverts expectations. For example, we are treated to a sleek, action-packed credits intro that lasts less than sixty seconds and Fincher follows that up with fifteen minutes of our protagonist strategically and slowly describing his process while he awaits his next target. It’s reminiscent of Hitchcock’s Rear Window with Oscar winner Erik Messerschmidt showing glimpses of various lives in the hotel The Killer observes. Messerschmidt even uses a first-person perspective where we are literally seeing the scene through The Killer’s eyes. He’s a voyeur who stands apart and avoids engagement.
Additionally, for a revenge thriller, it’s more of a slow burn and surprisingly short on action. Aside from a vicious encounter with an assassin known as The Brute, the violence is somewhat sparse. (Incidentally, the confrontation between The Killer and The Brute is one of the best examples of fight choreography this side of John Wick.) You’d expect this scene to be the climax but instead, it comes just over halfway through the film. It’s followed up by one of the few dialogue-heavy moments in the movie when The Killer confronts The Expert, the other assassin who ran afoul of his girlfriend Magdala. I typically don’t care for Tilda Swinton but she made this scene sizzle with a story about a bear dripping with subtext. It’s staged and shot brilliantly by Fincher and is arguably the best scene in the entire film.
I think where people will take issue with The Killer is the ending. It’s not your typical David Fincher ending and the choice that The Killer makes regarding one of his intended targets could come off as discordant. Yet that choice makes perfect sense when viewed through the lens of his conversation with The Expert. Furthermore, while some may see The Killer’s conclusion as a “happy” ending I suggest you look again, particularly at the final shot. The Killer’s ending both is and isn’t a David Fincher ending. It subverts the expectations of what we expect a David Fincher ending to be and for that reason, it’s brilliant in my opinion. If I sound obtuse or cryptic it’s only because I don’t want to spoil the film and you really won’t understand what I’m driving at until you watch The Killer.
My only regret about The Killer is that I didn’t get to see it in a theater. David Fincher remains a master craftsman and I believe all his movies should be seen at your local Cinemaplex. Regardless, see this flick at your first opportunity. It’s one of my favorites of the year.
1 God Awful Blind Yourself With Acid Bad
2 Straight Garbage
3 Bad
4 Sub Par
5 Average
6 Ok
7 Good
8 Great
9 Excellent
10 A Must See
The Killer: 9/10
