The Killer editor breaks down Michael Fassbender’s brutal fight scene

David Fincher’s new movie The Killer drops on Netflix on November 10, with editor and longtime collaborator Kirk Baxter breaking down the “typical” Fincher details.

From the mind of the man who brought us Fight Club, Seven, and The Social Network, The Killer – starring the likes of Michael Fassbender and Tilda Swinton – adds another authentic string to the director’s bow.

The film’s synopsis reads “Solitary, cold, methodical, and unencumbered by scruples or regrets, a killer waits in the shadows, watching for his next target. Yet, the longer he waits, the more he thinks he’s losing his mind, if not his cool.”

In our 4-star review, we described The Killer as “Fassbender’s Killer is arguably the slickest and sexiest contract killer since Bond – and with just as much of the global panache.” But how do you film the fight scene of all fight scenes?

The Killer editor on choreographing epic and brutal fight scene

Speaking exclusively to Dexerto, The Killer editor Kirk Baxter broke down the intricacies of Michael Fassbender’s key fight scene that takes place in the movie.

“It was such a long fight sequence that just kept going and going and going. It’s hyperbolic in a sense, but it’s also the it’s the realism in this movie that sort of sets it aside. That’s the part that I enjoy, it’s all quite practical,” he explained.

“Everything that is occurring could actually exist in the world. There is no fiction to the physics of it all, but there’s little pauses built into that fight scene that allow you to think, to consume it. Once it kicks, you’ve got the long process of him sneaking in and then it explodes. But you’ve got these little bits of enjoyment along the way. 

“I thoroughly enjoy the bong smashed across his face, but then what follows after that is the big kick out into the hallway, Baxter continued. “There’s a little tiny pause before that – that gets a laugh with the right crowd. Then there’s the big back break, where they’re both trying to catch their breath and slowly stand up again. There’s your pause, then comes what I’ve called the ‘Indiana Jones moment’ when Fassbender reaches for hopefully a knife and only gets a cheese grater.

“It’s these little pauses make it survivable and not exhausting to consume, including when you think it’s all over. It’s the choreography of doing something like that so that you can consume it and enjoy it. I think it’s like a pace issue, like a ballet really. Here’s a moment to digest it. And now we’re off again.”

Baxter has worked with David Fincher across several of his films before The Killer, including The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

“The most thrilling part of working on David’s films is giving a choreography to the scene. He’s taking a very classic revenge film and we’re just giving it acute detail,” The Killer editor explained.

The Killer comes to Netflix on November 10. Catch up with more of our Netflix content below:

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