Netflix's The Killer Review: David Fincher's Assassin Thriller Goes For Minimalist But Mostly Feels Basic

One doesn’t need a film studies degree to understand the appeal of assassin protagonists to storytellers. As far as plot is concerned, it’s a career that is specifically about conflict, comes pre-packaged with life-or-death stakes, and inherently features elements of secrecy; with the main character, there is moral dubiousness to play around with that is generally paired with a personal code of ethics formed by dangerous past experience. Mix in a love interest who compromises the work, a handler who may or may not be trustworthy, a powerful/unusual mark, and a mysterious/ rich client, and the rest is just details. It’s a well-worn cinematic formula, but with enough ingenuity and creativity also applied, it can manifest phenomenal results.

That extra mile portion of the job, however, is not made a priority in director David Fincher’s new thriller The Killer. Based on the comic of the same name by writer Alexis "Matz" Nolent and artist Luc Jacamon, the movie instead opts for a minimalist approach – operating with a simple six chapter structure and a lead character without a name. The exciting style of the director alone makes it engaging, along with a compelling, stoic turn from star Michael Fassbender, but it’s also not a film that provides you with much to chew on once the end credits roll, and it suffers from being too familiar.

The story begins in Paris where we are introduced to The Killer (Michael Fassbender) as he awaits his moment to execute a job. Occupying a WeWork office across the street from a hotel, he practices yoga, listens to The Smiths, keeps an eye on his heartrate, cleans his gear and monitors his protein intake, and passive voice over narration takes us inside his mind as he meditates on his craft and its requirements. The first act operates with a deliberate pace that foregoes splashy action in favor of patient internal exploration.

The protagonist dryly boasts about his perfect record (save for a heart attack that beat him to the punch), but, of course, this is the job where that goes to hell. The target arrives, the curtains are wide open, and the silenced rifle is targeted, but the shot misses, and personal security springs into action too quickly to allow a second try. The Killer is able to successfully slip away and out of the country, but, true to formula, this isn’t a career path that casually accepts mistakes. Consequences are initiated, and in riposte, the assassin initiates a four-part revenge mission.

Though minimalism is the intention, The Killer is too simple for its own good. 

The Killer marks a special reunion between David Fincher and screenwriter Andrew Kevin Walker, who previously collaborated to give us one of the best serial killer films of all time in 1995’s Se7en – but while that movie is remembered for its horrifying seven deadly sins-based murders and killer twist ending, their latest work together lacks a matching inventive spark. There is an efficiency in the plotting that is clearly meant to reflect the mindset of the lead character, but the A-to-B-to-C-to-D structure can’t quite shake off feeling rote. Each chapter has its own energy, as The Killer’s confrontation in Florida with The Brute (Sala Baker) is quite different than his showdown with The Expert (Tilda Swinton) in New York, but it all still tastes like Neapolitan ice cream: just the basic flavors.

Beyond the familiarity issues, the film also struggles to perfectly land the minimalist aesthetic that it’s clearly going for, like obvious cuts in a movie presented to be a single shot. The voice over is one of the best aspects of the film, particularly thanks to its continued use throughout the story and the excitement that comes paired with The Killer’s repeated mantra as he gets down to business – but it does minimize the “showing instead of telling” efforts and sees its effectiveness diminished whenever the character actually converses in a scene (which isn’t often, but does happen).

David Fincher's stylistic trademarks as a director are all over The Killer.

Elevating the uncomplicated material is the unmistakable auteur style of David Fincher. There are few if any filmmakers today who work better in darkness and shadows, and it’s a perfect world for The Killer to operate in. Be it an evening getaway in the streets of Paris, a restrained brawl through a small, darkened home, or a tense conversation in a candle-lit restaurant, Fincher’s collaboration with cinematographer Erik Messerschmidt yields rich visuals that beautifully reflect the movie’s tone.

The film is additionally a rich experience for the years. A soundtrack packed with songs by The Smiths leads to fun play with diegetic and non-diegetic music – taking us in and out of The Killer’s mind – and those tracks do nothing to take away from yet another successful team-up between David Fincher and composers Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. As we’ve seen from the musicians time and time again, the score is a tremendous accent that both builds and adds to tension, and it plays off the meticulousness of the protagonist.

There is a fair amount to appreciate in the aesthetics of The Killer, but it also feels like a spartan effort coming from the insightful mind that brought us masterpieces like Zodiac, Fight Club and The Social Network. Expectations that David Fincher would do more with a traditional assassin story are not met, and while it’s not a dissatisfying cinematic experience, it is a disappointing one.