Oh no, you don't even know the main character's name and you don't find out anything about his past.
Doesn't matter.
All the better.
The film is interspersed with many, many voiceovers that show you the killer's precise and detailed way of thinking, only to then see how he repeatedly acts in completely the opposite way. He makes it clear that his hunt is not personal, but is a campaign of revenge that he triggers because he denigrates someone very close to him. He says he can't allow himself any empathy or compassion, but then he lets go of the person who was just begging for the well-being of his children.
When the killer murders, it is always very cold but also staged with great intensity and elegance. And when there's an action scene, it's filmed with such force, so thoroughly and so bitingly that I haven't seen a scene like this in a long time. In general, the film has a very slick and elegant look, which can also be said about the rest of the film's production, which for Fincher's standards also consists of a lot of Shaky Cam - but is always used to the best effect.
The same goes for the whole story - it just glides along, it just slides past you at an entertaining pace... with the necessary effect, of course. Everything is reduced to the bare essentials, nothing feels inflated in any way.
Towards the end you have the feeling that the tension actually decreases more and more, especially the showdown is actually quite anticlimactic compared to most action films or thrillers, but it fits so well as a contrast to the rest of the film and to Michael Fassbender's character.
And after the last shot before the credits roll, you get the feeling that "The Killer" functions like a deeply cynical and nihilistic joke that leaves you wondering what you just saw. Who were you watching, and isn't everything somehow irrelevant and meaningless in retrospect?
Very cool and great movie!
Doesn't matter.
All the better.
The film is interspersed with many, many voiceovers that show you the killer's precise and detailed way of thinking, only to then see how he repeatedly acts in completely the opposite way. He makes it clear that his hunt is not personal, but is a campaign of revenge that he triggers because he denigrates someone very close to him. He says he can't allow himself any empathy or compassion, but then he lets go of the person who was just begging for the well-being of his children.
When the killer murders, it is always very cold but also staged with great intensity and elegance. And when there's an action scene, it's filmed with such force, so thoroughly and so bitingly that I haven't seen a scene like this in a long time. In general, the film has a very slick and elegant look, which can also be said about the rest of the film's production, which for Fincher's standards also consists of a lot of Shaky Cam - but is always used to the best effect.
The same goes for the whole story - it just glides along, it just slides past you at an entertaining pace... with the necessary effect, of course. Everything is reduced to the bare essentials, nothing feels inflated in any way.
Towards the end you have the feeling that the tension actually decreases more and more, especially the showdown is actually quite anticlimactic compared to most action films or thrillers, but it fits so well as a contrast to the rest of the film and to Michael Fassbender's character.
And after the last shot before the credits roll, you get the feeling that "The Killer" functions like a deeply cynical and nihilistic joke that leaves you wondering what you just saw. Who were you watching, and isn't everything somehow irrelevant and meaningless in retrospect?
Very cool and great movie!