REVIEW:
Talk about a movie that didn’t need to get made. And by David Fincher of all people. With a title that is as generic as it gets (there was even a classic Hong Kong, Chow Yun Fat movie with the same title,) and a plot that we’ve seen a ton of times before, there is nest to nothing interesting or different about this one. Michael Fasbender plays an assassin for hire who screws up a job. Now other assassins are coming after him. That’s the plot that we’ve seen before, over and over again, from the Replacement Killers to Things to Do In Denver When You’re Dead. The difference here is that now, Fasbender is going after the killers who came for him. That’s the only new angle. And if it led to compelling scenes or good action, maybe it could have worked. But instead, this movie is slow and dull.
Starting with the first kill that goes wrong, which seems to take about fifteen minutes of just listening to Fasbender’s voice over talk through every little detail, this one is tiring. And why would Fincher make it? Here’a a guy who once made Seven, The Game, and Fight Club. He once made the Social Network. The Killer is absolutely Fincher’s worst film to date. To be fair, it’s not boring the whole way through. Chapter titles help us see the direction of this thing, and occasionally there’s a decent action scene (okay, just one of them, in a house fight, that is mostly hidden in shadow.) The movie is artistic and all that, but here’s the thing…. It’s a story that we’ve seen already, over and over again, and this movie definitely does not do it better or have anything new to offer.