The Killer 4K 2023 2160p WEB-DL

A man solitary and cold, methodical and unencumbered by scruples or regrets, the killer waits in the shadows, watching for his next target. And yet the longer he waits, the more he thinks he's losing his mind, if not his cool. A brutal, bloody and stylish noir story of a professional assassin lost in a world without a moral compass, this is a case study of a man alone, armed to the teeth and slowly losing his mind.

The Killer 4K Review
The fact that David Fincher's film became part of the main competition at the Venice Film Festival can be called an event, if not momentous, then certainly notable. No one has long doubted the deserved status of the master, but the director does not often attend European screenings. Before "Killer" only "Zodiac" claimed the "Palme d'Or" in Cannes. Venice, which has opened its arms wide to Netflix movies, has acquired a strong contender, which was discussed before the premiere and will undoubtedly be after.

Akella missed: a man without a face and with a thousand names on different documents (Michael Fassbender) is preparing an assassination attempt in Paris. The assassin's daily routine is filled with routine rituals like yoga, sleeping on an Apple Watch signal, methodically destroying his own footprints, and other small but significant details that add up to mastery. A misstep at a crucial moment not only deprives the shooter of his fee and ruins the system, but also triggers irreversible processes of calibrating the scales of revenge and retribution.

"Killer" fits well into the general tone of the director's filmography: the usual visual code, recognizable from the first frame, the low sky and the light of the streetlamps in a foggy haze, aged editing equilibrium and suspense of the nature of misgivings, which does not leave neither the viewer nor the hero. A radical rejection of the usual themes and visual solutions was "Munk" - a movie personal and even lyrical. Against the background of a biopic of the screenwriter of "Citizen Kane" "Killer" looks like a welcome return to the edge of darkness, being in which does not lead to good.

Fincher's direction is tightly melded with the character of the hero: pedantic, careful, unemotional shooter, who separated empathy from work until the woman he loved was hurt (the consequences of a blunder on a mission). The mechanism is launched: the killer goes to addresses and scrupulously weeds out all those involved in the deplorable condition of the companion. Or spouse? After several circles of hell, the identity of the mercenary remains shimmeringly blurred, much more Fincher and Fassbender report on the character and habits of the man. Narrative and character exist on the edge of obsessive-compulsive disorder: the perfect soldier Michael Fassbender hypnotizes with smooth, silent and precise movements. Perfectionism as a way of life and a pattern of pursuit - Fincher jewelishly constructs the pursuits and chases and then retreats of the mercenary, no plan B, because plan A always works.

The main counterpoint is the desire not to give vent to feelings and even in the agony of retribution to keep himself in control: to remain a professional. The violence on the screen is not cinematic, but muted by the performer's will - just a job, now overtime. The only things that humanize the hitman are The Smiths in headphones (masterful sound mixing) and the occasional caustic joke.

Almost half of the timing methodical actions of the mercenary is accompanied by a voice-over monologue - a kind of diary of reflections and observations. Hardly anyone could have thought about the roll call, but for the festival audience a parallel was formed: the day before "Killer" in Venice showed Aggro Dr1ft - an experimental film by Harmony Korine, where the lone hero moves to his own lulling voice, repeating the same phrases like a mantra. And the killer has his own prayer: trust no one, stick to the plan, don't improvise. If Korine's art project begs for a comparison with GTA, Fincher seems to have sent Michael Fassbender back to the worlds of Assassins Creed (though with a much smaller share of action scenes).

A single misfire at the beginning leads not to the destruction of rituals and chaos, but to a careful and calibrated work on mistakes: Akella must remain the leader of the tribe. Like the hero, it's as if the movie lacks the point of no return, the dramatic breakdown that so often occurs in the "last thing goes wrong" genre. However, emotional combustion and abrupt action contradict the very nature of the tape.

It's hard to conclude without festival snobbery: "Killer" is not another movie by a great author, but a movie by a great author for Netflix (although you could hardly say that about the same "Munk"). A well-crafted picture, thoughtfully scripted and skillfully directed, it looks like a project on duty: neither a step forward nor a step backward. One can hardly say that Fincher missed, probably the director was shooting at other targets this time.