The Killer

David Fincher ne m'a encore jamais déçu. Après un Mank très difficile d'accès, il revient avec une histoire au tempo rapide sur un homme qui s'exprime principalement avec sa voix intérieure. Dès l'intro, j'ai bien évidemment été ravi par la représentation du matin à Paris, dont les créateurs ont très bien capturé l'ambiance. Après, ça démarre et je ne me suis pas ennuyé une seule seconde ; je me réjouissais peut-être de cette fin atypique et vraiment particulière. Un brillant Michael Fassbender amaigri, lequel a une nouvelle fois assuré dans un rôle complexe de plus. (21/11/2023)

Michael Fassbender bouge, marche et donne des accents intéressants à sa voix. Et c’est tout. Ses monologues sont aussi creux que le métier de son personnage, et on a déjà vu ailleurs l’affrontement naturaliste de deux professionnels au sang froid dans des performances plus intenses. La simplicité de l’histoire ne me dérangerait pas du tout si elle était compensée et agrémentée de moments imaginatifs, d’un profil psychologique original du personnage principal et de jeux sur le plan formel. The Killer, cependant, n’offre rien de tout cela. La forme est précise et nette, mais insipide. Une rencontre à table avec une Tilda Swinton parfaitement bien choisie suscite la curiosité et l’adhésion du spectateur, un peu comme le face-à-face entre Al Pacino et Robert De Niro dans Heat, mais c’est aussi la seule scène du film dont je me souvienne. Pour un David Fincher, ce n’est pas suffisant. En matière de profil de tueur à gages inconnu similairement minimaliste, avec une signature d’auteur et plus impliquant émotionnellement, je préfère nettement The American avec George Clooney. (29/11/2023)

Perhaps Fincher's most meditative film to date, the music calmly throbs throughout, like Fassbender's assassin at the beginning, patiently waiting for his shot, mindful of his heartbeat and, like almost the entire film, going nowhere, repeating to himself with obsessive care, "Stick to the plan.... don't improvise." And that's exactly what Fincher does, thoughtfully, with the precision of a Swiss watchmaker, layering one carefully composed scene after another, and seemingly, unwittingly, imprinting himself on Fassbender's character as well. Early on, after a botched murder, the man in question thinks "Fuck, this is the first time" and I could see Fincher having similar thoughts flying through his head after the mixed reception of Mank. And it's as if they were both chasing perfection, where failure is unforgivable. Something was missing in the rating and Fincher was not to blame. Perhaps I was expecting something more thought-provoking from Walker's script (8MM remains unbeaten), perhaps a better ending and not the shallow point at the end, including the few idyllic shots that are really flat. Anyway, precise Fincher ..... precise Fincher is back!, just the way we like it. Only that Andrew K. Walker guy picked a weaker moment. (10/11/2023)

A weaker moment for David Fincher. The trailer touted an attractive thriller about a hitman, which seemed to be his strongest point, but the result is not very satisfying. The first half hour is excellent, as we watch Michael Fassbender in an apartment preparing to shoot someone with a sniper rifle. I liked the attention to detail, his preparation and the excellent monologues, which consisted of various statistics and philosophising, I that enjoyed a lot (too bad the whole film wasn't in this style), but then it takes a bit of a turn and starts to fall rather flat. The second half in particular is already quite contrived. I was kind of hoping that Fincher would focus on the hitman style, that we'd be watching a professional assassin going from target to target and various forms of defusing with high attention to detail, but this another personal revenge that doesn't stand out from the competition in anything interesting, and Fincher's signature isn't very recognizable. Fassbender's acting is good, likewise of course with the craftsmanship, but plot-wise it doesn't have any balls, there's not much action either, no satisfying twist (at least the fight in the apartment had balls, it was pleasantly gritty, with great cinematography and interestingly shot, it was very palpable, it was the highlight of the film for me), the ending is completely devoid of zest. Shame, the potential here was definitely higher. 6/10. (16/11/2023)

No one is special. We are all mere aberrations, but otherwise we are all basically the same. Fincher's philosophizing assassin explains the importance of overcoming boredom and the benefits of diligence. I've never seen a more relaxed and serene opening. It's a balm to the soul and a throwback to the early days of Dexter. Fake smiles, at McDonald's or at an airport counter, Fassbender's emphasis on minimalist, spare and slow speech and a thoughtful, planned out life that goes out of whack at one key moment. Andrew Kevin Walker adapts a comic book about method and the importance of staying on top of things. Fincher chooses to repeat the rules, but they're often broken, to emphasize the hero's inner turmoil, but it doesn't affect his effectiveness. A melancholy quest for revenge seems to be the opposite of John Wick, yet it offers one of the most intense fights between two very different killers, supported by Reznor’s and Ross' restrained (as usual) soundtrack. Emotionless, yet absolutely precisely realised. It is the absence of emotion or some unexpected finesse that prevents The Killer from being anything more than a precise and cool study of people who simply, don't give a... Fuck! (11/11/2023)