It has been almost a decade since I saw a film by David Fincher. His last film, Gone Girl, hit theaters back in the fall of 2014 and he hasn’t released a film until 2020’s Mank, a film that I have yet to see and I’m just not that interested in seeing it. Just like many of the famous Hollywood directors within the last few years, Fincher has decided to work with a streaming service instead of working with big studios. Before signing exclusively with Netflix, Fincher had been developing two big projects at Disney and Paramount Pictures. He spent almost a decade developing a remake of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea but the project was cancelled after he and Disney couldn’t agree on the film’s massive budget. A similar thing happened to his proposed World War Z sequel; he’d spent a few years on the script but Paramount wouldn’t greenlight it because of budget concerns. After so many rejects, he decided to move his talent to a streaming service where he could make any type of films he wanted. His latest, The Killer, is the second of a four-picture deal he’d signed with Netflix and it’s my favorite film that I’ve seen this year.

In Paris, a nameless Killer (Michael Fassbender) is trying to keep his mind and body fresh as he waits for his target to arrive in a building across from where he’s staying. As he waits, we hear his inner monologue, and we learn a bit more about who this person is. He has some sort of obsessive-compulsive behavior. He doesn’t see himself as one of the “normies”, a term he uses constantly to describe regular people living their regular lives. He has no allegiance to any nation or politicians; he’s getting paid to do a job that he does well and that’s all he cares about. Unfortunately, his mission in Paris turned sour when his target showed up and The Killer must clean up the mess and leave France as soon as possible. Knowing that his client is very upset because of his failure, The Killer decided to go home to his hideout in the Dominican Republic to regroup. Upon arriving at his house, he realized it had been broken into and his girlfriend Magdala (Sophie Charlotte) was severely beaten. Knowing that it was his employer who sent the assassins to take him out and hurt his girlfriend. The Killer’s new mission is to find the people who are responsible for hurting the only person that he cares about.

Screenwriter Andrew Kevin Walker wrote the screenplay that’s based on the French comics by Alexis Nolent and Luc Jacamon. I’ve never heard of the comics before, so I don’t know if this is a true adaptation or not. Walker wrote a procedural film, and the story follows the character around America, following clues and information provided by contacts under duress, using the names of famous sitcom characters (such as Sam Malone and Archie Bunker) to cover his tracks as he travels and purchases items. I would say this is more of a grounded John Wick story. There are no underground special groups full of super assassins or honor among assassins. These people are cold-blooded killers who have been hired by powerful people with money to take out their competitors.

Fincher turned Walker’s script into a lean and mean thriller. It’s a simple story that could’ve been a straight-up action thriller. But Fincher decided to tell a story of a person who obsesses about getting revenge and someone who’s basically a serial killer. As the character said, he’s someone that you don’t want to have an encounter with. You’re not supposed to empathize with this character, this isn’t something like the film Joker. Fincher also avoided some of the pitfalls with this type of character. For example, in a scene where The Killer is escorting one of his targets to an execution spot, the target pretends to slip on a staircase and asks for help. Instead of helping, The Killer executed the target right then and there. It’s then revealed that the target had a knife and would’ve attacked The Killer had he helped. In another film, that scene would’ve let into a big fight scene or a chase.

Speaking of fight scenes, Fincher staged one of the best fight scenes that I’ve seen and it’s the only action in the film. That scene made me wish Fincher made a true action/adventure film. Hopefully, Tom Cruise sees this film and asks Fincher to come back and make an R-rated Mission: Impossible film that he’s supposed to do back in the early 2000s.

As usual with all of Fincher’s films, this is a stellar-looking film that’s been shot by Erik Messerschmidt. Unlike the other Netflix-produced films, this one looked spectacular and looks great on a big screen. Also, kudos to the sound design team. The use of sound in this film is very creative and if you have a nice home theater setup, you’ll appreciate how it was created.

As for performances, it’s all Fassbender and he’s great as the cold-blooded assassin. There were some good supporting roles like The Lawyer (Charles Parnell) and Dolores (Kerry O’Malley). The biggest secondary character is The Expert (Tilda Swinton), who I wish had more of a background story and scenes. But the scene between her and The Killer was great, it’s a shame that we didn’t get more of them in the story.

Even though it’s been close to a decade since I saw a Fincher film, it’s well worth the wait. While it’s still fresh on my mind, I think this is his second-best film behind Se7en. I think this one is closer to his very underrated thriller, Panic Room, which has been forgotten by Fincher’s fans throughout the years. The only complaint I have is that the film is too short. We’re living in a time when big-budget films are 2.5-3+ hours long, this one runs less than two hours. I would’ve loved to have seen more background of The Killer and the story expanded a little bit. While a sequel has never been mentioned during the film’s promotional run, I would love to see more of The Killer’s adventures in the future.

So have you seen The Killer? Well, what do you think?

…