David Fincher has been synonymous with some of the best filmmakers working today. He has found an incredible balance of making films that are acclaimed by critics as well as popular among general audiences, some including Se7en (1995), Fight Club (1999), Zodiac (2007), and Gone Girl (2014). The Killer, starring Michael Fassbender, utilizes Fincher’s signature style but this time with a screenplay that highlights his intricate planning as a filmmaking right into the script with Fassbender’s character.
A killer, who is unnamed, is given the task of taking out a man in a Paris hotel room, which requires a lot of planning but even more patience as he waits for the subject to arrive at the target location. Just when he thinks he has the perfect shot, his mission goes horribly wrong, resulting in a journey that brings him around the world after things begin to get personal.
Related: All David Fincher Ranked from Worst to Best
One of the film’s greatest strengths is Fincher’s meticulous filmmaking style that mirrors the personality of the title character. The killer is constantly repeating the same couple of lines to himself including, “stick to the plan,” “anticipate, don’t improvise,” and “empathy is weakness.” The first two can be equated to Fincher’s filmmaking where it becomes obvious in this movie that the script was insanely tight, most likely requiring tons of takes to get just the right one. In an industry where improvising is often praised, Fincher has become one of the few who seem to require a structured script where everyone sticks to the page.
David Fincher’s execution is unlike other assassin films, it is slower and less chaotic while packing just as much of a punch. As much as films that follow assassins love to fill its script with action sequences and cinematic chases, The Killer understands that the job of an assassin requires patience, where most of their job seems to be waiting around for the right moment, only for that moment to be, yes just a moment.
The journey Fassbender’s character takes is one that seems to be out of the ordinary under the job description, so much so that the realization of Fassbender’s “mistake” upon thousands of hours of practice may have been subconsciously planned to break up the monotony of his day to day.
Although it is a fact of life that no matter how detailed a plan is things may not always work out with the desired result, the director takes this one step farther in his examination of Fassbender’s character. He could be trying to create a story to tell the audience that even experts are not free from mishaps however it seems more likely that David Fincher’s execution and direction of the film is stating that strict routine is contrary to what humans actually prefer.
The ideas that ensue as the movie progresses makes the audience second guess everything the killer is telling them because of the actions he takes throughout. The Killer on Netflix is another fantastic addition to David Fincher’s filmography with a great performance from it’s lead star, Michael Fassbender.
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