The Killer
★★★★★
I never thought I would love watching the various ways a man could dispose of trash.
It's really good to see Michael Fassbender again. He's always been a favorite actor of mine and he fits perfectly into David Fincher's world. He nails the dark humor tone of this script amazingly well with his voiceover and he embodies how I would picture a professional assassin carrying themselves.
Fincher has always been known for his gritty films, but this is the first time in a while that I sensed that he wasn't taking himself so seriously. Like Fight Club, the ironic humor is quite brilliant in the way it undercuts how Fassbender's character reacts to situations that aren't in his control. You become enraptured in the processes and the fight sequences that go down, but in the same time are forced to reckon with how we empathize with this character. You have to remind yourself constantly that this man is a murderer because Fincher constantly puts you in a place where you are always rooting for him.
This movie delightfully plays with our notion of perspective and truth. Why do I find delight in such a film when, personally, I'm vehemently opposed to guns? Fincher is one of the few directors that can make you grasp with such notions while at the same time nodding along with The Smiths soundtrack that underlies this assassin's journey.
