The Killer is currently dominating the Netflix top 10, shooting up to No. 1 for movies in its first weekend on the streaming service. But not everyone who’s watched it so far has had a great time.
As of this writing, there’s a pretty significant split on Rotten Tomatoes for The Killer between critics and audiences. Critics are currently loving the film, giving it an 86% “fresh” rating and an average score of 7.4 out of 10. Audiences aren’t too far off in terms of pure score — they give it a 3.4 out of 5 — but they enjoyed the movie much less, with only 63% giving it a “fresh” rating.
Lucky for you, I already wanted to watch The Killer, so I hit play on it this weekend on Netflix to see for myself if this movie is another David Fincher masterpiece you need to stream now or a surprising misfire that’s worth skipping.
Critical consensus: The Killer is a stylish thriller
Before we get into my thoughts on The Killer, let’s see what others thought, starting with the critics.
As mentioned earlier, overall, critics were positive about Fincher’s latest film about a hitman starring Michael Fassbender. The critical consensus was that “The Killer finds director David Fincher on firm footing with a stylish and engaging thriller that proves a perfect match for leading man Michael Fassbender.”
This sentiment seems to be echoed by Dhaval Roy from The Times of India, who says “Fincher’s craft is on display here as you may not find yourself on the edge of your seat, but your mind will be constantly engaged.”
Peter Travers from ABC News also enjoyed The Killer, writing, "It's Fincher's deliciously depraved conceit that his perfectionist process is not unlike the killer's. In his hands, and a mesmerizing title turn from Fassbinder, what could have been a hitman cliche becomes a tangle of loose ends hauntingly left untied."
But it wasn’t all positive from critics. The most brutal feedback of all may be just three simple words from Roger Moore of Movie Nation — “John Wick Lite.” More on how I felt about that criticism in a bit.
Audiences are cold on The Killer
If you scan through the audience reviews of The Killer, things definitely get worse than “John Wick Lite.” “Terrible movie. Waste of my time,” “Style over substance” and “boring” are thrown around by several reviewers, though some were positive on the film calling it amazing.
For what it’s worth, my wife, who watched with me, took the side of those who were disappointed by the film. And while she of course is always right, did I agree with her and many others who saw the movie?
The Killer review: Masterfully made but misses the mark — skip it
Unfortunately, I largely do agree with a lot of the negative feedback on The Killer, which was one of my more hotly anticipated films of the year. Remember the critic who called the film “John Wick Lite?” I had the same thought at times while watching it, though I think Fight Club Lite might be a little more accurate.
If you’re looking for something to watch on Netflix this week, I’d have to recommend skipping The Killer. It’s a good movie and very well made — if you’re a huge Fincher fan you may very well end up enjoying it. But for this Fincher fan, The Killer just didn’t stick the landing.
That said, there is a lot of style and some masterful craftsmanship from Fincher in The Killer. His use of sound in particular, from sounds in a scene to the Trent Reznor score to Fincher’s masterful use of the film's soundtrack (yes, this has a score and a soundtrack) is excellent and expertly controls the viewer into feeling the way Fincher wants them to feel.
But unfortunately, while the movie does a great job of crescendoing toward its finale, the ending just fell flat and left me wanting more. Criticisms of it being more style than substance felt valid, even if Fincher’s style is phenomenal.
If you’re looking for something to watch on Netflix this week, I’d have to recommend skipping The Killer. It’s a good movie and very well made — if you’re a huge Fincher fan you may very well end up enjoying it. But for this Fincher fan, The Killer just didn’t stick the landing.
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