The Killer (2023) (Film Review)

The Killer (2023) For a long time, I said that David Fincher was probably my favourite director. In any case, I’m a big fan of Seven, I love The Game, I think he’s made an Alien 3 that’s almost as good as the first one. As for Fight Club, it’s also a masterpiece. What’s more, Fincher made my favourite home invasion with Panic Room and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is just incredible. But here’s the problem: he made Zodiac and Gone Girl! They’re both good, but far from his best. And it’s as if a sudden lack of inspiration led him to make the pointless remake of Millennium. And this film, in my eyes, is even worse. I’ve deliberately not mentioned The Social Network – The Facebook Movie, because that’s one of the films I need to see again. But all this hasn’t made me want to see House of Cards. Nor have I seen his series like Mindhunter, or the first season of Mindhunter, which he produced.

Fincher was also the man who was going to make a Spider-Man in the early 2000s, but he wanted to present an older, more experienced Spidey, having to manage his double life as a vigilante and a photographer, with a realistic, character-driven, drama-driven tone and direction. The idea was hated and rejected, so Sam Raimi took the helm.

So…The Killer! After the ultra-fast credits (you only have two seconds to read each name), we get straight to the heart of the matter with a monologue that is as pessimistic as it gets. People who think they’re realists will agree. But it didn’t speak to me…Depending on your point of view, of course you can believe or not believe in luck or karma. And of course the killer in the film would have us believe that he has no real impact on the size of the population, since he’s convinced of it himself. After all, he has no morals, has no time for opinions (at least in his job) and sees empathy as a weakness. This monologue stays with us throughout the film, sharing with us all the character’s thoughts, with key phrases recurring from time to time.

It’s worth noting that Trent Reznor provides the film’s music in a duet with Atticus Ross. Even though we hear a Smiths song in the first five minutes. In fact, the main character listens to nothing but this legendary band on his headphones or in his car. I should point out that just because a film has only good music doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a good film.

Composers Reznor & Ross have been hired and used for all of Fincher’s feature films since The Social Network in 2010. Trent Reznor has contributed extensively to soundtracks. Here are some examples:

1994: The Crow,

1994: Natural Born Killers

1996: The Fan

1997: Lost Highway

1999: Fight Club

2000: Final Destination

2001: Lara Croft: Tomb Raider

2002: Resident Evil

2005: Doom – Der Film

2007: The Hitcher

And that’s just the beginning! Back to the film. After 20 minutes, I thought to myself, “If the whole film is like this, it’s going to be very long! But… no! That’s just it: it gets more interesting afterwards… but not for very long. And then it picks up again! The film is interesting in fits and starts. There’s only one fight scene, but it’s ultra-violent and very long. Which, of course, also makes it totally unrealistic. The Killer is based not on a book, but on a series of comic strips. Originally, Brad Pitt, one of the main actors in Seven, was also to play the title role. He was replaced by German-Irish actor Michael Fassbender after joining Netflix. I don’t really know if this is a good idea, as I wasn’t a huge fan of Fassbender. But generally, it’s more his film choices than his acting. All the false names used by the killer are the names of main or secondary characters from well-known American TV series. For example, the name Robert Hartley, used by the killer when registering at the Chicago fitness club, is the name of the main character in the sitcom The Bob Newhart Show. The extraordinary Bob Newhart plays a Chicago psychologist known for his therapeutic escapades. The name George Jefferson, used by the bank killer, is the name of the main character in the sitcom The Jeffersons, which was one of the most popular African-American series on American television. Some film analysts consider it likely that Jefferson is the killer’s real name, as he must carry out banking and legal transactions that could be verified under his real name. Finally, Howard Cunningham is the name of the warm and helpful father of the main character Richie Cunningham, played by Tom Bosley, in the sitcom Happy Days, in which Robin Williams played the alien Orc Mork in two episodes. Thanks to the subsequent spin-off series Mork of the Orc, Williams became internationally famous.

David Fincher isn’t what he used to be. And yet I was still eagerly awaiting a new film from him. Originally, Alessandro Camon was to write the screenplay, Plan B Entertainment was to produce the film and Paramount Pictures was to handle distribution. When Netflix joined the project in 2021, production began. The screenplay based on the comics was eventually written by Andrew Kevin Walker, with whom Fincher had previously worked on Seven.

The film is divided into six chapters. And the ending is a bit easy! Despite the fact that it took a long time to make this film, that the details have been taken care of, that it’s nice to see Tilda Swinton for a few minutes, that the atmosphere and direction are still Fincher and that I’ve read a few articles to see how good this feature film is… I can’t deny that I was rather bored than anything else.

So maybe everything has been thought out down to the last detail… but if that’s the case, it means that the comic book is great, but that it’s not necessarily transformable or transferable to film.

My Rating