The Killer Review: David Fincher Plays The Hits With His Latest Thriller
"Stick to the plan. Anticipate. Don't improvise." These are the mantra-like words of the nameless assassin in David Fincher's "The Killer." You could also imagine Fincher himself running those same words through his head as he obsessively makes a film. "The Killer" is clearly like catnip to the director — it's the story of an obsessive guy who meticulously goes about his work. Fincher makes movies. The Killer kills people. I'm not saying Fincher is on the same level as a cold-blooded killer, but he clearly sees a lot of himself (and his approach to his work) in his latest protagonist.
"The Killer" is a film as cold and calculating as its main character. One gets the sense that Fincher and writer Andrew Kevin Walker are going for something darkly funny, too, but the humor, while there, never quite connects. Part of that has to do with Michael Fassbender, who plays the lead character as an impenetrable blank slate; someone who talks a lot (via constant narration) but says very little. He's like a well-oiled machine. And "The Killer" asks — what happens when that well-oiled machine malfunctions? I like Fassbender, and he's fine here, but I couldn't help but think the role would be better served by an actor with a firmer grasp on the comedy; Christian Bale, perhaps, could work wonders with this character.
In anyone else's hands, "The Killer" would be disposable, but Fincher, being Fincher, manages to squeeze plenty of life out of this rather simple story of a man killing a bunch of people. It feels like the filmmaker could've directed a movie like this in his sleep at this point, but that doesn't mean we can't have fun watching it. And to be clear, "The Killer" is fun, even through all its cold-hearted brutality.
A series of tasks
As "The Killer" opens, Fassbender's anonymous hitman (he uses several aliases throughout the flick, all of which seem to be the names of sitcom characters) is waiting. And waiting. And waiting. It seems like much of his job is about sitting around, waiting for the right moment to strike. He's camped out in a WeWork office (one of several brand-name locations that pop up throughout the film to clash with the nameless nature of its protagonist) in France, waiting to kill his latest target. At last, his opportunity arises. He methodically prepares, assembling his weapon, getting into place, taking aim. And then — he botches it. The hit goes wrong, and the Killer has to quickly get the hell out of there, which he does in thrilling fashion — part of the film's fun is in watching how Fincher and cinematographer Erik Messerschmidt present us with the main character performing a series of tasks efficiently.
The Killer returns to his home base in the Dominican Republic to find that assassins looking for him have badly beaten his girlfriend. Now he has an option — he can easily walk away, he's certainly prepared for that and clearly has enough money to do whatever he wants. Instead, he heads back to the U.S. on a state-hopping, blood-soaked adventure to kill anyone who might want to kill him.
Is he seeking revenge for the violence against his girlfriend? No, I don't think so. The character is a sociopath so it's not clear how much he genuinely cares about his love interest. Instead, I think this journey is all about smoothing over wrinkles; this man is a perfectionist, and outside influences have mussed up his usual routine. He can't have that. People have to die so he can go back to his usual way of life.
Play the hits
After its initial set-up, "The Killer" follows an amusingly simple path — the Killer hops on a plane, flies somewhere, and murders someone. And then he does it again. And again. That's it, really. But the fun comes in watching the man work and watching Fincher and company capture it all with sharp, unsentimental clarity. The kills aren't overly graphic, but they're brutal and occasionally shocking — the Killer repeatedly tells us he has to reject empathy, and he does, again and again, bumping off individuals that might have been spared in another movie.
Walker's script also delivers the occasional show-stopping scene, like when Fassbender sits down with another assassin, played by Tilda Swinton, and simply allows her to talk while partaking in a flight of whiskey. But the existential-tinged conversations the characters carry out, coupled with Fassbender's ever-present narration, also feel mighty thin when you start to focus on them. But perhaps that's okay. Perhaps "The Killer" doesn't need to be anything more than what it is: a showcase for Fincher to do his thing, and do it well, just like the assassin at the center of the story. This is a lesser work from the filmmaker, but even his lesser entries are better than most of what we get these days. Sometimes it's okay to let an artist play the hits.
/Film Rating: 7 out of 10