Watch The Killer on Netflix // Buy the graphic novel (paid link)
Written by: Andrew Kevin Walker (screenplay by), Alexis 'Matz' Nolent (based on "The Killer" written by) and Luc Jacamon (based on "The Killer" illustrated by)
Directed by: David Fincher
Starring: Michael Fassbender, Tilda Swinton, Charles Parnell
Rated: R
Watch the trailer
Plot
After a fateful near-miss, an assassin battles his employers and himself on an international manhunt he insists isn't personal.
Verdict
There is plenty of action to this, but the focus is on the planning that goes into assassin work. The very first scene talks about the boredom in the job, but this gives the movie a focus. It's very deliberate and preoccupied on process. This avoids exposition by showing and not telling. This uses voice over exceptionally well, not as a crutch but to deepen the character. It's an excellent movie.
Watch It.
Review
This starts with an unnamed assassin (Michael Fassbender) on a stakeout. Through voice over he talks about boredom and his process. This is a movie that focuses on the planning more than the execution. He tries to justify his work by pointing out how many people are born and die on any given day and he doesn't have a noticeable effect on that. There's a conflict with what he does and what he tells us through narration.
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| Michael Fassbender plays The Killer |
He's watching his target's house from an empty WeWork office in Paris. That's even more ironic as WeWork declared bankruptcy the week of this movie's release. There's a lot of voice over, but it isn't used as a crutch. It provides insight on how he works and lives as well as his outlook on the world. We see these monotonous moments, but it's intriguing due to the nature of the job. His rules for success likewise speak to the character.
The contract isn't fulfilled and he's paranoid. We see his escape in Paris, but he thinks people are out to kill him. Yes, he messed up, but he offers a valuable service. It seems that in this world if you screw up, they take you out. I guess a simple rebate wasn't in the cards. This aspect seems to exist just to give us a plot where an assassin must take revenge as a precaution.
Through voice over The Killer states he's not taking it personally, but this seems rather personal. His method is certainly impersonal and without empathy, but he's also doing this directly. I love that one of his targets calls him out on that assertion that it's not personal, pointing out that if it wasn't he wouldn't do these jobs himself.
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| Michael Fassbender, Tilda Swinton play The Killer, The Expert |
This movie feels so much quicker than two hours. It's a mistake follow by a series of revenge missions. There isn't a lot of dialog aside from voice over. That does a great job of putting us in The Killer's head and revealing his code as his missions unfold. The fight with the brute is something else as it's the only real fight this movie has. The extended conversation The Killer has with Tilda Swinton's character is completely engrossing. Most assassin movie skip the conversation for an involved fight. This has such a different energy, and at the same time it's engrossing. That conversation speaks to his motives.
This is such a patient and deliberate story. It focuses on the less glamorous aspects of the job like the waiting and the boredom. I like how this incorporates Amazon delivery lockers and Postmates into the story. While that may not be as impactful ten years down the line, it is thought provoking. Even the appearance of a WeWork office and the fact that company went bankrupt the week the movie release will soon be forgotten.
That focus also highlights the main fight the movie has. We see the assassin undertake three missions. The first he confronts his past in the form of his handler. In the next mission he's challenged physically, and after that his claims about this gamut not being personal is challenged. This character is precise in all things he does, and this movie echoes that through it's focus and lean storytelling.
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