'The Killer' A Review

The Killer is a thriller about the titular hitman played by Michael Fassbender. The film opens on a mysterious killer in Paris on a stake out. With meditative voice over the Killer goes through his mantra(repeated throughout) and his morning physical routine. The hit goes wrong and he is forced to do something he does not do- improvise.

Fassbender, in what is outside of a couple scenes a solo performance in a solo film, is exquisite. He does what he does best- play the emotionally challenged, fully competent, stoic. The precision, the methodicalness, the voice over, it all serves to portray this extremely questionable character in an incredibly satisfying way. It reflects the production around him, all very clean, sharp, controlled, aiming for perfection. Arliss Howard, Charles Parnell, Kerry O'Malley, Tilda Swinton are all great but basically only have a scene each and serve really only as obstacles for the Killer to contend. In that way the film is beautifully symbiotic, watching we are the character, what we see and hear is what he sees and hears, the information focused on is only what he focuses on, his thoughts are spoken via voice over so they are our thoughts. There is no extra fat, it is all lean, all essential.

Does the film have anything to say? Not much. Or at least its themes(control, power) are more broad and nebulous. There is a focus, almost an ecstatic pleasure, in process and character rather than story. This is an excellent, gripping, meticulously constructed, adult thriller. That's it. The plot is probably its weakest element and almost irrelevant. It is a tour de force for Fassbender(who hasn't had a particularly good role since 2015's Macbeth) and a perfect marriage to director David Fincher's penchant for obsessive, exacting production.

In a world of the John Wick and Extraction franchises, which could(at least on paper) be lumped in with this, the lack of interest in action here(although the brief sequences of such are immaculately staged) is beyond refreshing. Some may find this film too cold, too clinical, but it could not be more effective getting you into the mind and spirit of this character and in that it is exceptionally satisfying.

Delicious in its clarity, a transcendent turn by Fassbender, and Fincher at the height of his craft.

Currently in theaters, coming soon to Netflix.

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