After the unexpected – but brilliant – detour into black-and-white biographical film history with Mank, director David Fincher returns with The Killer. Given this new thriller is a fast, stylish action piece with sharp one-liners and an icy lead performance from Michael Fassbender, it’s bound to appeal to a much wider audience.
Based on a graphic novel by Alexis Nolent and Luc Jacamon, The Killer kicks off in Paris in calm, reflective fashion when an unnamed assassin (Fassbender) waits patiently for the perfect moment to execute his latest hit. He listens to The Smiths, stretches and sleeps – all while delivering a droll, precise voiceover about… waiting for the right moment. Of course, when the right moment comes – with an appropriate blast of 1984 classic ‘How Soon Is Now?’ – it turns into the wrong moment. The job is badly botched and our man hotfoots it back to his Dominican Republic hideout to find his partner has been hospitalised after being savagely assaulted by two assailants in retaliation for his failure. He then undertakes a revenge mission, hoping his mistake will be the last one he ever makes.
Fincher has previously tackled the act of killing in memorable style with Seven and Zodiac. The Killer is a very different beast from those earlier modern classics, however, lacking the nihilistic savagery and pervasive gloom of the former nor the depth and knotty moral uncertainty of the latter. This piece is much more immediate and straightforward. There’s no ambiguity: Fincher just gets on with his slick and drolly amusing tale, punctuated with spectacular fight scenes and fiendishly clever procedural sequences.
When our guy visits the New Orleans lawyer who hires him for his paymasters or when he locates the man who paid for his botched assignment, we can’t keep our eyes off of the precise and unflustered way he goes about his business with fake uniforms, dodgy IDs and a wide array of trespassing methods. He most resembles Mike Ehrmantraut, the genius fixer from Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul. Watching him work is a real treat.
Fassbender, a subtle and clever actor whether he’s appearing as Magneto in the X-Men series, David in the Alien franchise or even Macbeth, delivers in a less-is-more role. He mostly plays at being a killer no one notices, garbed like a German tourist, though he gets one crunching fight sequence. Otherwise, the acting highlight is a restaurant face-off with a fellow assassin player by Tilda Swinton. It’s the most riveting scene of the film, though not one bullet is fired or punch thrown.
By many standards, Fincher’s latest would be a potential career-best film, but from the director of so many greats – from Fight Club to Gone Girl, it’s not quite top-tier. This sounds fussy and probably is. That said, The Killer is an entertaining, crowd-pleasing banger that stands up to multiple views. It’s a superior hit-man romp that doesn’t outstay its welcome from a director who misses the target less than his protagonist.