The Killer (Review)

I'm longing for the day I get to see limited releases at a theater near me. There were a couple times during my time off work I was contemplating driving 2 hours out of my way to see David Fincher's new movie. I mean, it's a Fincher movie after all! But I never did and instead waited for its streaming release.

That was not a good decision by me. While there were many thoughts floating around my head during this, the one that never left was "man, I really should've seen this in the theater".

That's my long way of saying Fincher's The Killer is, no surprise, awesome. Led by a stellar Fassbender, the movie is just a fun time, with some great tension, dark humor, and some surprising violence. I know I did a long version of saying it's great, but to put it in simpler terms: this was just my shit.

The Killer, which is based off a graphic novel, is about an assassin who has this whole killing-people-discreetly gig pretty down. But when a job goes wrong, it forces The Killer (that's Fassbender's character's name in the credits) to embark on a cross country mission of taking out and evading new enemies.

That sounds like a pretty basic assassin movie, and on the surface, it is. But when it's in the hands of Fincher and Andrew Kevin Walker (who also helped write the script to Seven), as well as Fassbender and a stacked cast in limited roles, it's immediately elevated. However, if you're looking for a big and fun assassin movie, this is not for you. The movie focuses way more on the long process the Killer has to go through rather than the actual assassinating. For example, the beginning of the film follows him waiting in an abandoned building for days for a target that may not even show up. It's largely that for the remainder of its runtime, but it is never boring, and it's some of the most excellent tension I've seen in a film this year.

It's not a flashy role in the slightest, but that really doesn't stop Fassbender for being so magnetic in this role. There's a lot of voice over from him taking us through the mind of the killer as he's working, but on screen it's a largely silent role. It doesn't hurt that the character is kind of weirdly great. He's a person who almost effortlessly blends in to the crowd when it's time to hide. He listens to The Smiths and only The Smiths when he's working, grabs whatever cheap protein is available, and quotes Popeye's "I am what I am". He's bland as hell, yet Fassbender still makes him so electric to watch. I can't even comprehend how he makes it work. Another big highlight is while he's an expert, he still royally messes up throughout his journey. It makes for some of the funniest moments in the movie, but it's also super refreshing. Many other movies would have the assassin be ten steps ahead of everyone, almost never in danger, and it's so boring. This twist on that is just fantastic.

The rest of the cast is also excellent, but they're very minor roles (Tilda Swinton once again is a sneaky MVP as a character that's very different from Fassbender's Killer). Even though the violence is minor, when it happens, it's thrilling. The score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross is disappointingly minimal but it fits with the film (and since they gave us an excellent score earlier in the year with Mutant Mayhem, it's hard to complain). But the sound design is a standout, particularly in the more thrilling scenes, which made not seeing it in theaters even more regrettable.

I've seen a lot of people claiming this as a "minor Fincher" movie. And I guess that's true? It doesn't reach the highs of Zodiac or The Social Network, two of the best movies ever made, sure, but that doesn't stop it from being a great assassin movie on the surface. Off that alone it's one of my favorites of the year. But I think this movie is actually aiming for more than that, and touches on some stuff beneath that surface that has stayed with me longer than I anticipated (I saw it twice already because of it). I'd love to brush on it but it feels spoiler-y to do it, specifically because a lot of it has to do with the ending, so I won't discuss it here. Either way, "minor Fincher" or not, this is an easy recommend if you're a fan of his work (although it's not going to be for everyone). It speaks volume to the greatness of Fincher how effortlessly he makes this looks.

The Killer is streaming exclusively on Netflix