Review: Michael Fassbender, David Fincher provide the right tone in 'The Killer'

It’s just business in David Fincher’s “The Killer.”

It’s like any other job. Not a career, a job. It’s mundane, boring, but lucrative.

Fincher, directing from a script from Andrew Klein Walker, Alexis Nolent and Luc Jacamon, drives that point home in the imminently fascinating and mostly entertaining thriller.

For the first 20 minutes of this Netflix film, which begins streaming Friday, he and Michael Fassbender establish that The Killer is just doing work.

More: 'The Killer' is a weird, goofy look at what happens when an assassin has a bad day at work

He sits alone in a building in an unfinished WeWork office. He sleeps there on what is essentially a table. His only source of entertainment: the MP3 player he carries with him (The Smiths are his preference). He doesn’t listen to or stream from a phone because he has to maintain a supply of burners so he can remain in the shadows.

He only leaves the building to eat and to regularly check if his exit plan is intact for the moment he has to make his escape.

That moment comes after the audience learns the intricacies of his chosen profession as an assassin – not his life, but his job.

And in that moment, he screws up, setting upheaval of his life into motion.

The Killer misses his mark and accidentally kills an escort with whom his prey was about to have a dalliance. His miss suddenly makes him the hunted as he becomes a loose end that has to be tied up.

In doing so, the middleman (Charles Parnell) who arranged the hit sends other professionals The Killer's way, and they rough up his girlfriend, sending him into a controlled rage.

Of course, those responsible must pay. And it’s just business, right?

Fincher takes us into The Killer’s dark world, where his contract murders are done dispassionately and methodically.

It’s an intriguing journey as Fincher goes from John Wick-level violence in one sequence to a philosophical debate about contract killing in another.

What’s never considered: the collateral damage – innocent people – who are caught in the middle of his mayhem.

The Killer possesses a unique moral code, and Fincher’s such a talented filmmaker that in several instances, we feel for him. Fortunately, that feeling doesn’t endure.

It represents the type of film that can be thoroughly enjoyable, but its moral ambiguity will give the audience a sense of guilt.

Fassbender provides the right tone as The Killer — he's as cold as he needs to be and just likeable enough. He has several standout moments, but watching him verbally spar with fellow contract killer The Expert (Swinton) over shots of whiskey proves to be compelling viewing.

Fincher (“Seven,” “Zodiac”) shows he can still delve into the dark and create a film worth losing yourself to.

George M. Thomas dabbles in movies and television for the Beacon Journal.

Review

Movie: The Killer

Cast: Michael Fassbender, Tilda Swinton, Charles Parnell, Arliss Howard

Directed by: David Fincher

Running time: 1 hour 58 minutes

Rated: R for strong violence, language and brief sexuality

Grade: B

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Review: Netflix's 'The Killer' delves into assassin's morals