The Killer
**This piece was written during the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the actors currently on strike, the movies being covered here wouldn’t exist.
In my estimation, David Fincher has never made a bad movie. There are certainly films of his I adore, and have watched numerous times, but I can’t say that I would consider him an essential filmmaker for me. I do think how he has challenged film structure, and embraced digital filmmaking, makes him an important one over the past three decades. But if a Fincher film doesn’t resonate with me? I’m not really interested in revisiting it.
“The Killer” is a movie that leaves me conflicted regarding Fincher. There are scenes where he is absolutely at the peak of his powers, and a vein of dark humor throughout that had me entertained the whole way through. Like his protagonist, though, the film seems to get away from Fincher. I love how pulpy the film is, but Michael Fassbender’s journey as the titular character is at a distance from us, meaning his emotional journey doesn’t land with us.
The film begins with what could be a short film unto itself, as we watch Fassbender’s character go through a routine of mental and physical preparation for a job, presumably involving someone in an apartment building across the way. Fassbender’s voiceover, and the film’s musical choices, go perfectly with Fincher’s directing, which puts us in the moment every step of the way. And then, the hit does not go as planned. The Killer goes about his post-job routine as best he can, but blowback is assured. And certainly, when he goes to his hideaway in between jobs, it has hit him in that most personal way. Time for revenge.
I think part of the reason “The Killer,” adapted by “Se7en’s” Andrew Kevin Walker from the comic book by Alexis Nolent and Luc Jacamon, hits me as not quite upper tier Fincher is that what starts out as a captivating, unpredictable character study becomes, ultimately, a fairly generic revenge thriller. There are great absurd ideas in this film- including a running gag with regards to the Killer’s aliases- and when the fun really leans into pulp violence and action sequences, it can be fun (the scene where The Killer confronts his lawyer is excellent); the problem is that the cinematic aesthetics that Fincher excels with don’t really go with that type of filmmaking. It’s better suited for sequences as distinctive as the opening sequence, as well as a late dinner scene with Fassbender and Tilda Swinton that is one of the best directed character scenes Fincher has done in a while. Those two scenes alone are worth checking this out for.
While I enjoyed “The Killer” in the moment, I also feel like it shows some surprising limitations in Fincher’s style. The slick digital cinematography by Erik Messerschmidt gives the best moments in the film an evocative feel, but I’d like to see Fincher challenge himself visually like he did in the first 10-15 years of his career. The same goes for the music; the needle drops are excellent, and Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’s score has some wonderful moments, but there’s a monotony to their work with Fincher in their contemporary collaborations that feels unfortunate given how Reznor and Ross have managed to branch out their musical style away from Fincher. I found myself thinking that both composers and director could benefit from some time apart. As much as “The Killer” departs from what we expect from Fincher of late, there’s too much in his style that feels like the same old same old. That’s as much of a disappointment as I’ve gotten from Fincher’s work in a while.
