David Fincher’s latest movie The Killer follows ‘the killer’ (Michael Fassbender) on his quest to eliminate the clean up team dispatched to murder him after a botched job. Whilst the film doesn’t offer as much emotion or character work akin to Fincher’s previous films such as The Social Network (2010), it’s a good ride if you’re looking for a thrill, with a lot going on beneath its surface that people don’t give it credit for.
Michal Fassbender’s character ‘the killer’ is the drive of the film, and on the surface the writers don’t give you much to work with him besides from his primary goal which is established early on in the runtime. In terms of character traits, the writers threw in, what I found to be nonsensical, narration. I believe that this narration was intended to serve the purpose of developing audiences’ understanding of the character, given his minimal interactions with other characters making it difficult to empathise/ understand him. However, I found that the lack of character interaction is where the movie shines, and if anything, the narration does disservice to the film – honestly I would just ignore it (With the narration being heavy in the beginning I fell asleep for the first fifteen minutes.)
When he is alone, which is for the majority of the film, you feel this harrowing, but effective, sense of artificial loneliness. Making you feel like you’re on a night drive/ flight. The Killer’s day to day/ night to night activities featuring little examination of the character leads to this sense of disassociation. Whilst many critics might argue that this is poor character work, I found it worked very well for the story Fincher was trying to tell. The Killer himself is also dissociated, driven only by his goal to protect the ones he loves – and in turn you empathise with his goal. This also haves you enthralled by his day to day/ night to night activities in pursuing said goal. Whether that be his clever disguises/ infiltrations or his effective interrogations of people involved in his attempted murder, and disposals there of…
The focus on his dissociation and loneliness leading to the focus on his day to day/ night to night activities he takes part in to achieve his goal builds investment, and eventually tension, as you realise he is alone in his quest. One moment that came from this was particularly nail biting, and what I would describe as the best on screen action I’ve seen in years featuring Sala Baker’s ‘The Brute.’
The Killer’s rare, but golden, interactions with other characters, namely ‘The Expert’ (Tilda Swinton) are where you get much of the unravelling that you might find absent from the majority of the runtime – but the film works for this so well. Taking you out of this state of disassociation, and beckoning you to question the characters motives – Tilda Swinton really shines here.
Overall, I would say that David Fincher’s The Killer is a very good film, and worth the watch despite falling short of his previous works. Whilst it is criticised for its superficiality, I think that there is so much more to dig out for more attentive viewers.
4/5
Image Credit: TMDB
