The Killer

10/27/20231h 58m

Theatrical (limited) Release (US)

~ Execution is everything. ~

Overview:

After a fateful miss, an assassin battles his employers, and himself, on an international manhunt he insists isn't personal.

Director:

David Fincher

Status:

Released

Language:

English

Buget:

$175,000,000.00

Revenue:

$362,113.00

Key words:

sniper
new york city
assassin
airport
paris, france
hitman
new orleans, louisiana
dark comedy
client
product placement
sociopath
revenge
murder
fate
lawyer
brutality
based on graphic novel
character study
perfectionist
hired killer
empathy
dominican republic
assassination attempt
cold blooded killer
detached
tampa, florida
satirical
manhunt
international manhunt
precision
gig economy
dark
clinical
psychological
secret
violence
suspenseful
intense
audacious
wry

Cast

Michael Fassbender

~ as ~

The Killer

Tilda Swinton

~ as ~

The Expert

Charles Parnell

~ as ~

The Lawyer - Hodges

Arliss Howard

~ as ~

The Client - Claybourne

Kerry O'Malley

~ as ~

Dolores

Sophie Charlotte

~ as ~

Magdala

Emiliano Pernia

~ as ~

Marcus

Gabriel Polanco

~ as ~

Leo

Sala Baker

~ as ~

The Brute

Endre Hules

~ as ~

The Target

View full cast & crew

Reviews (6)

MS
Manuel São Bento
Written 2 year(s) ago
6
FULL SPOILER-FREE REVIEW @ https://fandomwire.com/the-killer-venice-film-festival-review-a-tense-yet-superficial-experience/

"The Killer is unquestionably the simplest, most straightforward movie of David Fincher's career, for better and for worse. On one hand, Michael Fassbender's melancholy narration and magnetic performance, as well as the moody cinematography and throbbing score, contribute to the immersive, tension-driven experience remarkably idealized and executed by the filmmaker.

On the other hand, the lack of any emotional layer related to the superficial story and nameless characters, along with a repetitive structure devoid of secondary arcs, gradually alienates viewers from the equally underdeveloped fictional world.

A case of admiration more than enjoyment."

Rating: B-
CinemaSerf
Written 2 year(s) ago
6
Does anyone remember Baz Luhrmann's song "Sunscreen"? Well the narrative mantra provided here by assassin Michael Fassbender reminded me of some of the profundities of that lyric - though not as wittily. The remainder of this film, however, is unlikely to be conjuring up memories anytime soon. His meticulously planned kill takes out a poor, leather-clad, school mistress instead of the intended target and so he has to flee. Now one might assume that such a character would be un-spookable. Well, nope - not this one. He is actually a bit nervous as he takes the long route home to safety in the Dominican Republic. When he gets there, he discovers that it wouldn't have been that safe there either as his pal "Magdala" (Sophie Charlotte) has been seriously wounded in an assault on his remote home. Bent on revenge, he sets out to track down the offenders and ultimately determines to come face to face with the millionaire client. Now he hasn't quite got a Yellow Pages, but his detective work is carried out with rather brutal ease. We have the odd combat scene, a dog gets pretty zoned out with painkillers and the denouement - featuring a sparing contribution from Tilda Swinton - has precisely zero menace or sophistication to it. Fassbender is very easy on the eye, but the rest of this is about as derivative as it gets - a sort of distant cousin of "The Mechanic" (2011) and it's not really very good.
M
MovieGuys
Written 2 year(s) ago
6
The Killer presents a stylish front, intelligent narration and quality performances, backed by compelling cinematography.

That said, when you take a step back, its still "just another" hit man flick, leaving far shallower footsteps, than say, Leon: The Professional.

Its essentially driven by a very basic story, that's too truncated to add up to anything meaningful, partially compensated for by lashings of action packed, exposition and a degree of quality narrative.

In and of itself, its marginally better than many other knock off's but not by as much, as it might think.

In summary, offers a little extra polish but does not aspire to the iconic heights, of films that made this genre famous, in the first place.
B
BornKnight
Written 2 year(s) ago
8
Raw and ruthless - The Killer by David Fincher is basically a 75% thriller 25% action movie that tells about the daily life of a hired hitman - that makes a mistake on job (this is shown in the first 30 min). Then he and who he cares (a girlfriend in Dominican Republic) will pay the price - but things aren't so easy. It reminded me very much the ecstasy of seeing the fist movie incarnation of 007 by Daniel Craig raw violence and not a snobby agent on a suit.

He won't let those whom did he things go impune, so what to do do? Chase one by one, hitman style, silent, evasive, focalized - the prototype of a Sigma male (like others characters aka John Wick, James Bond, etc.).

David Fincher is already know by a huge list of excellent movies including The SOcial Network, Se7ven, Gone Girl, Fight Club, The Zodiac, Mindhunter and the list go on. He already have his established style, violent and gritty and The Killer doesn't go far from it.

Don't get me wrong - this isn't from the "another movie" perspective, by another good movie perspective. Andrew Kevin Walker (Se7en, 8mm) wrote the script based on the french comic book 'Le Tueurby" by the writer Matz and artist Luc Jacamon (2000).

Action wise, the movie have more scenes of the standard procedures of the "profession" that raw action, aside from one chapter, where there is a brutal fight (the movie is divided in chapters btw). Michael Fassbender and the others (I am truly a fan of any movie that Tilda Swinton stars) - are the pieces that make the movie especially the first one, raw, obstinate and methodic while always listening to "The Smiths" to keep his mind clean and focus on what to do, to not deviate from the plan.

Although there are few lines of dialog between characters, 90% os the dialog is from Fassbender in first person, on the thoughts in his mind.

Aside from the strange fitting of Morrissey in the music track, we have a minimalistic but sober OST made impeccability by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. This movie is a must watch to anyone that enjoy hitman's movies - I gave it a 8,0 out of 10,0 score / A-.

We may have a contender from adapted screenplay here for the Academy, and maybe for best actor and direction.
deadlyhorizons
Written 2 year(s) ago
6
A tad bit underwhelming follows an assassin who botched a job and how he goes about it he's very clever and sly Fassbender does really good

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