The Killer (2023)

Michael Fassbender plays an unnamed assassin in David Fincher’s hitman thriller, The Killer. He is methodical, disciplined, and without scruples or regrets. The film follows the killer as he waits for his next target, speaks to us on the soundtrack about his methodology and philosophy, and embarks on an international manhunt after a fateful near-miss.

The main concept of The Killer is that the hitman is a representation of a coldly methodical assassin due to his cool finesse, professional punctuality, and serial killer-like tendencies. The movie owes much to both the sleek cynicism of Fincher’s own past work and the mythology of the assassin in movies. The plot takes a very Taken-esque turn when the killer’s partner is assaulted to within an inch of her life, and he embarks on a rearguard action for his own survival that takes him from Paris to the Dominican Republic to New Orleans to Florida to New York to Chicago. The film never matches its opening sequence for sheer screw-tightening excitement, but it has a satisfyingly grim momentum to the businesslike body count.

Michael Fassbender delivers a dead-eyed and dread-squeezed performance as the killer, speaking in a low, affectless drone and sounding as controlled as Martin Sheen in Apocalypse Now. He is fanatically focused on his mission of vengeance and self-defense, but something goes terribly wrong for no reason at all, and he must act decisively to survive. In a brief but sly cameo, Tilda Swinton plays a lawyer who gave the go-ahead to attack the killer’s partner. Her scenes are funnier, smarter, and more stylish than the entire movie.

The two hours of the film are filled with David Fincher’s signature style, and simply because of the calibre of the crew that produced it, it hums like few recent films of its kind. The film offers a sense of detail and is finely tuned, like one of the killer’s jobs. With a brilliant running gag about the assassin’s fictitious names and a parade of well-known companies like Starbucks, Amazon, WeWork, and even Wordle, the film’s cinematography is sleek and fashionable.

The Killer is a thriller of pure surface and style, but it falls short of expectations due to its hollow plot and uninspired writing. The film is entertaining to watch, but it lacks the emotional depth and character development that would make it truly memorable. The historical and cultural backdrop of the movie is a critique of a society that has become so commercialised and cold that a murderer can go unnoticed because everyone is too preoccupied with other things to notice him or her. The film’s tone is cold and calculating, and it made me feel detached and uninvolved in the story.

The Killer is a decent hitman thriller that is worth watching if you’re a fan of David Fincher’s work or the genre in general. However, if you’re looking for a film with emotional depth, character development, or a compelling plot, you might want to look elsewhere.

(In cinemas, check your local movie guide for show times.)