Michael Fassbender is the Killer, an assassin who is meticulous about his habits and how he performs his job. He is staking out a wealthy target in Paris, a city that he describes as slow to awaken unlike other cities. He does yoga, listens to the distinctive sounds of "The Smiths" and is in some half-finished apartment where he can spot the target across the way. He pretends to be a German tourist-of-sorts and eats McDonald's for the protein. Unfortunately, he misfires when the target arrives and kills a dominatrix! He takes off back to his hideout in the Dominican Republic. Unfortunately for the Killer (he has no name though he uses aliases from classic TV shows in his various passports), he finds his girlfriend is in the hospital and has been violently attacked. Naturally the client that the Killer works for was ready to kill him (how the girl managed to survive such a brutal attack is one lingering question). Now the Killer wants revenge and hunts down those responsible.
"The Killer" is absorbing in its own clinical way from start to finish and, at first, I got a kick out of the Killer's voiceover where he goes on about his lack of belief about anything - the guy is sort of an existentialist with a narrow point-of-view of humanity. This all makes sense considering he's an assassin yet much of his voiceover becomes cliched and tedious - I suppose I have heard such pronouncements frequently throughout the years and hearing them from an assassin is not always interesting. They almost serve as justification for what he does yet we learn nothing about this robotic killer, other than the fact that he has a girl. When I think back to similar films such as the extremely glum "Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai" or the thrilling "No Country for Old Men" or even the kinetic "Collateral," there was a sense of mystery and personality to these hitmen. Fassbender is such a quixotic presence that it didn't bother me he didn't have much to do other than appear. He is like a snake, sliding in and out of buildings, garages and restaurants without being spotted - a boring anonymous assassin. That makes sense for the movie but it leaves us with not much else.
David Fincher is a true marvel of a director and his own clinical approach to this remorseless killer's methods holds one's attention (Tilda Swinton, in a compelling cameo, also keeps you watching). Once we arrive at the end of the film where he may or may not be at peace, I just didn't care - much like the protagonist himself.
