The Killer… aka The Killer of the Slower Moon… has deceptive opening credits. They are cool and crisp, fast-paced and exciting… but they end very abruptly. They lead, however, into a kind of brilliant first act as Michael Fassbender thinks his way through a business-like assassination. I debated if it’d have been better without his narration… and then I thought it was better with. In that I couldn’t decide was interesting.

If only. If only. The rest of the movie is a basic plot-driven exercise where our monosyllabic, borderline mute professional killer has to clean up after a mess he made. It’s cold, leathery, mechanical, reptilian… and how much you enjoy that and how much you can just groove on David Fincher’s undeniable style will determine if you like this movie.

I was onboard for a little bit… then less so… and then I realized Fassbender wasn’t playing a human, he was an NPC going through the motions. It could have been a fascinating character study but I didn’t get much character out of him. Neither his internal monolog nor complete lack of personality facing down his targets were interesting.

I can’t figure out why Fincher put his talent into THIS story. In adapting the graphic novel (which I haven’t read), I’m guessing he lost a decent chunk of the tough-guy narration. Without the deeper text, what we’re left with is a generic revenge plot that we’ve seen before. It doesn’t offer anything new… except an austere style that lacks the crackling energy or flair that a film living on style alone kinda needs.

There’s also some strange marketing. The cover art/poster has a pulpy 70s tough guy feel to it… while the styling of the title is way too cute. The “i” in The Killer has fallen over with a bullet hole where its tittle once was… a tone that doesn’t match the film. Probably not Fincher’s doing, but maybe emblematic of a confounded marketing department.

I’m afraid this one lost me and the Fincher style wasn’t enough to save me. I didn’t hate the movie even though it sounds like I did. I just kind of found it lying there, lethargic like a reptile on a cold day. I wasn’t bored but I also felt watching it was going through the motions.

Score: 74