Director: David Fincher
Starring: Michael Fassbender, Arliss Howard, Charles Parnell, Kerry O’Malley, Sala Baker, Sophie Charlotte, Tilda Swinton
Certificate: 15
Run Time: 118 mins

The Killer is the new film by auteur director David Fincher, his second collaboration Netflix after Mank. The film is an adaptation of a French graphic novel series, written by Alexis ‘Matz’ Nolent and illustrated by Luc Jacamon. After a three year hiatus, Michael Fassbender plays the titular role, an ice-cold unnamed professional assassin who we first meet staking out a Parisian hotel room. He’s calm and methodical and the film opens with his narration on the monotony of his job and his cynical outlook on life. Despite seeming like a character who never mistakes, he botches the job. What follows this first sequence are the repercussions of his error, as he gets embroiled in an international manhunt. This is very much familiar ground for Fincher, who reunites with Se7en writer Andrew Kevin Walker.

The Killer is an odd film and while there’s no denying its scrupulous craftsmanship and visual pizzazz, it left me feeling rather empty and cold throughout. There just isn’t a lot of substance, which I think is intentional as Fincher attempts to satirise the hitman thriller sub-genre. 

Michael Fassbender makes for an enigmatic lead, unemotional and with very strict morals and a code of conduct. The character borders on the absurd, especially with his innumerable identities as he passes through airport to airport in his largely US-based city trotting revenge quest. The script largely relies on Fassbender’s self-parodic narration, which I found overwrought and a little tedious – as with any film, it’s always better to show rather than tell. Walker’s script couldn’t be further removed from his back catalogue, with credits such as Sleepy Hollow and The Wolfman. 

There’s not a great deal to say about the other performances because this is very much Fassbender’s film, but both Arliss Howard and Charles Parnell are impressionable, the former as a somewhat-vulnerable millionaire and the latter a calculated handler. Tilda Swinton is easily the most high-profile supporting actor in the film but I found her speech contrived. 

On the plus side, the film is meticulously staged, Fincher’s famous multiple-take philosophy clearly on show here. It’s beautifully shot by Mank cinematographer Erik Messerschmidt, who favours a jet black colour palette and the outbursts of violence are particularly coolly crafted. And of course,  it wouldn’t be a Fincher film without an innovative opening credits sequence. Here, he delivers what is possibly the fastest-flowing title sequence I have ever seen.

There’s a pulsating score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, which is deeply effective, especially in the film’s sudden outbursts of violence. A particular highlight is when Fassbender’s assassin confronts Sala Baker’s ‘The Brute’ – a raw and brutal fight for the ages. 

Fassbender’s assassin takes pleasure through listening to The Smiths through his earphones to relax and the execution in sound design is very interesting. The tracks are played diegetically when we are in Fassbender’s perspective and are non-diegetic when outside of his view, flitting seamlessly between the two. While the use of The Smiths fuels the story, it does seem a little bit of a shame to consign the talents of Reznor and Ross to the back seats. 

Ultimately, The Killer is a strange film in Fincher’s oeuvre and I’m not sure what drew him to it. While seductively constructed, the film isn’t as confident in its footing, compared to a filmmaker such as Steven Soderbergh who’s a stalwart in this genre. Although The Killer’s bordering on the absurd suggests there is substance, the film struck me as rather empty on a first watch and I didn’t have much to latch onto. Perhaps it’s a film that opens up on a rewatch but on first impressions, I judge The Killer to be Fincher’s second-weakest film after The Game. 

⭐⭐⭐ (Good)