The Killer - Not The Movie You Were Expecting

assassins have long made for interest in fodder in Hollywood movies cool clinical lethal and morally gray they were much more sophisticated complex and precise than the big musly X soldiers or CIA operatives that made up the bulk of action thrillers back in the day the problem is that they were usually crammed awkwardly into the same oneman Army mold as their predecessors the detailed and methodical nature of their work washed away by a wave of big explosive shootouts high-speed car chases and brutal fist fights that's pretty much what we've been conditioned to expect from assassination Thrillers which probably explains why a lot of people came away from the killer feeling like they'd been cheated out of a kick-ass action movie slow paced introspective and stripped back with a relatively simple and linear storyline driven by lengthy monologues from Michael fast Bender's protagonist it's definitely not a thrill a minute kind of movie because well it's not trying to be but hear me out on this one because if you go into it with the right expectations and pay attention to what the film's is actually trying to show and tell you the Killer is a pretty rewarding Movie experience with way more depth and subtlety than people give it credit for allow me to elaborate the film stars fast Bender as the killer he goes by many aliases in the course of the movie most of them characters from all TV shows but we never get to know his real name just as we never get to know his true background and personal history because those things are less important than what happens to him in the course of the story The Killer as his name suggests works as a freelance assassin a job he's been doing for a long time now and is extremely good at the reason for his success is the Mantra that he lives by religiously a philosophy of total discipline and self-control perfect attention to every detail never allowing empathy Compassion or morality to get in his way as he explains in his opening monologue he sees most of the world as being inferior to him trapped by a system of rules beliefs and self-imposed limitations that only men like himself were able to ignore that's why he's got no problem whatsoever killing people for money anyway when we pick up with him he's staking at a hotel in Paris waiting for his Target to show up his preparations are lengthy and meticulous and as the film stresses his job often involves long periods of boredom and routine followed by a few seconds of critical release unfortunately when the moment comes an unlucky mistake causes him to miss his Target forcing him to flee the scene it's a career first for him he's never failed a mission like this before so he's basically in Uncharted Territory now returning to his hide out in the Dominican Republic he finds the place ransacked and his girlfriend severely injured as he soon discovers a pair of Hit Men were sent to his house to take him out and ran into her instead it seems that his employers have turned their backs on him and they're determined to clean up the mess that he's made from then on his objective is simple track down the people who came after him and work his way up the chain until he can find The Man Behind the whole thing and hopefully leave a lot of dead bodies in his wake as I said before the tendency with Hollywood is to present assassins as glamorous and sick sexy like James Bond but without the tuxedo train Killers walking unseen amongst us always ready with a silenced pistol or a high-powered sniper rifle traveling the world in search of their next Target un aable to take down armies of henchmen standing in their way but the killer instead gives us a much more grounded mundane view of these people and the work that they do this is a world of economy air travel Bland hotels Anonymous storage lockups and simple practical technology it's the exact opposite of hyper stylized movies like The John Wick franchise that have come to dominate the genre in recent years the TDM of staking out a Target waiting hours or even days for something to happen staying constantly focused constantly alert constantly suspicious of everything the minute details and decisions that can make the difference between success or failure and most importantly of all the kind of person who gravitates towards work like that the killer himself starts out as The Stereotype of the perfect assassin a man seemingly without emotion conscience or even a personality to speak of whose only real motivation is completing the next mission his work has already earned him more money than he could ever hope to spend and yet he's never thought of retiring the Mantra he lives by has kept him stuck in an endless cycle that exists only to perpetuate itself until his failed mission in Paris finally breaks it the more the movie progresses the more the icy shell around him begins to crack he starts making mistakes accidentally killing a prisoner that he's trying to interrogate getting blindsided during a house assault allowing emotions to Cloud his judgment all of these things point to the fallible man slowly emerging from behind the carefully constructed facad a man beginning to question the choices that have set him on this path and whether or not this is the life he even wants now the film's core elements of alienation dehumanization Urban Decay and socially Outcast protagonist sit squarely within the David Fincher comfort zone of movies like The Game Fight Club and Girl with the Dragon Tattoo the movie also subverts another big Trope of the genre the idea of personal grud bugies see nine times out of 10 the villain of movies like this will turn out to be some former friend or comrade that was once betrayed or turned against the hero somehow adding a personal Dimension to their rivalry but there's really none of that here the characters pitted against each other have no real connection or past history they're all just people doing a job none of them particularly better or worse than the other [ __ ] man when the killer finally confronts the big bad guy who started the whole thing the man doesn't even know who the [ __ ] he is the movie is directed in Fincher's typical subdued economical style which is very much in keeping with the tone of the script there's no crazy extravagant cinematography no heavy use of CGI to make death defined stunts come to life the one major fight scene in the entire movie is simple brutal and grounded like you're standing in the room with them performances are excellent across the boards I've always been a fan of Michael fast Bender even when the guy's trapped in a shitty movie he's usually able to elevate the material with the sheer force of his performance and he carries the cool clinical assassin character perfectly here Tilla swinton's practically made a career out of playing quirky unusual characters so she's right at home as a fellow assassin that's revealed to have a very human side and yeah she really does look like a Q-tip in this film Charles Parnell meanwhile is one of those naturally charismatic actors that's able to make a lot out of very little and again the movie allows him to shine as a middleman who makes a living out of dealing with some of the most dangerous individuals on Earth ultimately there's a lot to take from the killer if you go into it with the right mindset you actually pay attention to what's happening and allow it to unfold at its own pace it's definitely not going to Thrill you with explosive action scenes and quippy dialogue but if like me you appreciate a mature film written for mature audiences then I think you'll enjoy this movie a whole lot more than some people give it credit for anyway that's all I've got for today go away now

Channel: The Critical Drinker

Views: 984,774

Keywords: critical drinker, review, funny, best

Id: m8Xw3Dxrk7E

Length: 6min 52sec (412 seconds)

Published: Mon Nov 20 2023