Film Review - The Killer (2023)

The Killer is the new movie by David Fincher and his second for Netflix after 2020’s Mank and stars Michael Fassbender as an assassin who has a hit go wrong in Paris and someone he cares about is targeted in another attack so he decides to go after those responsible.

The Killer is not one of David Finchers best movies but it is also a very good one at the same time and a lot of that comes down to the films craftsmanship, Fincher’s direction first of all is much better here than it was in Mank it feels tighter, more concise and yet knows when to ramp up the action and the tension as well as let things slow down to either let character moments breathe or the inner monologue of the assassin play out, the films editing by Kirk Baxter is very good as well and adds to the tight concise feel of the film well.

The film is also well photographed by Erik Messerschmidt though some scenes will be too dark to watch on your TV during the daytime and the music score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross is a memorable one.

As for the cast it was nice to see Tilda Swinton and Charles Parnell (Warlock from Top Gun Maverick) in brief scenes but this is Fassbenders movie through and through and he is very good in it whether it be his voiceover work or the way he creates a memorable physical presence with his focused walking, his eyes and his facial expressions, I doubt this will happen but I hope he will be in the running for Oscar consideration for his work here.

And so that was the Killer and Fincher being very good can sometimes be other filmmakers hitting it out of the park and while I don’t love it there is a lot to like here, 3 and a half out of 5.