Give me a movie with a solid plot about a professional assassin played by a likeable actor and I'm all in. So when I saw the trailer for The Killer (2023) online, I was immediately hooked by the synopsis and Michael Fassbender in the lead role. I had a feeling this was going to be my kind of action thriller and so glad the movie did not disappoint.
Directed by David Fincher and written by Andrew Kevin Walker based on French graphic novel of the same, The Killer stars Michael Fassbender alongside Tilda Swinton, Arliss Howard, Charles Parnell, Kerry O'Malley and other actors to deliver suspenseful and thrilling performances.
The movie centres around an unnamed hitman (Michael Fassbender) whose carefully controlled world begins to fall apart after a job goes wrong. As a professional assassin, he's strategic and sticks to strict routines. He never makes a mistake and that's why he's good at his job until he stakes out a hotel with the intention to kill a target.
But things don't go as planned when he sets up his sniper rifle in an opposite building, waiting and then the target arrives in his hotel room with an escort. Somehow, when the hitman pulls the trigger, he accidentally kills the escort and not the target as intended.
A routine kill job quickly turns into a personal hunt when the target escapes and sends his men after the hitman and the people he cares about. The hitman must clean up his mistake and this forces him to track down the target and everyone responsible for hurting his loved ones. How do you think this journey unfolds?
My Review And Rating
David Fincher put a lot of work into making this movie different from the usual assassin movies. Unlike John Wick, another of my favourite action thrillers and characters, who often runs into a room with his guns and takes down about twenty people within a few minutes, Fassbender's character is quieter, colder and more deliberate when on the job. He doesn't rush into the action but keeps us in suspense, a tension quietly building on the side.
I love that Fincher makes us wait for the action. About twenty minutes into the movie, we watch this hitman wait, observe, prepare and repeat his rules to himself. At first, I wonder why he takes his time to stake out his targets but it turns out that's his MO. He has a system for everything. He plans his movement, studies his environment and meditates to remove emotion from every decision. These had always worked for him until one mistake threw his perfect plans off balance.
The hitman is an interesting character who holds the movie together and Michael Fassbender is perfect for this role. His stoic, composed demeanor makes you want to watch him closely for any change in his expression. His voiceover also gives us access to his thoughts and how he operates. Rarely do we see movies give the audience a front row seat into the mind of the hitman. This character thinks he's great at his job because of his control, routine and understanding of how the world works. Of course, the movie goes on to challenge this belief because life does not work that way and it was interesting to watch how this develops the character.
I like how Fassbender's character approaches revenge as though it's another hit job. He doesn't go about it blindly or haphazardly. He calculates his moves and rarely loses his composure but underneath is anger. When he starts taking out his enemies, I'm on the edge of my seat enjoying the action and suspense. One lesson I take from this movie is that preparation and discipline are good but often, we must adapt or else be thrown off balance unexpectedly.
David Fincher is one of the best action thriller directors and he brings his brilliance into this movie. From the framing and lighting to the sound and editing, everything feels controlled and well done. Every scene and the little details in them are magnified in a fascinating way because we see them through the mind of someone who treats them as important.
If all directors are this good, we won't get boring or cliché films.
The casting is stellar for me. Tilda Swinton is another actress I love to see on my screen and she plays the role of an assassin so well in this movie as though she was born for it.
Rating this movie, I'd give 8.5 out of 10 stars. The Killer is a well-paced action thriller that will pull you in and keep you seated in tension till the end.
All images above are screenshots from the movie
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Rating: 85/100
