Netflix’s New Thriller Movie Just Gave John Wick 4 Its Biggest Competition For 2023’s Best Fight Scene

WARNING! This article contains spoilers for The Killer (2023)!

A memorable fight in The Killer is one of the few recent action sequences that measure up to the heights of John Wick: Chapter 4. The Killer follows an unnamed assassin (Michael Fassbender) who becomes involved in an international manhunt following a hit gone wrong. The latest movie from thriller master David Fincher, the dark and measured Netflix film contains many of the hallmarks of Fincher’s distinct filmmaking style; however, The Killer also sees Fincher greatly stepping into the action genre for the first time since his debut feature, the controversial Alien 3.

While The Killer is primarily situated within Fincher’s thriller wheelhouse, a highly choreographed combat sequence featuring the titular assassin is all-out action. Moreover, the scene is quickly generating buzz as one of the best fight scenes of the year. While it was previously presumed that the operatic and opulent John Wick: Chapter 4 had that title in the bag, it’s possible that one exciting scene occurring before The Killer’s ending may edge out the Keanu Reeves franchise due to its capacity to offer something new.

The Killer’s Florida Man Fight Scene Is One Of The Greatest Combat Sequences Of 2023

John Wick: Chapter 4 set a high bar for action cinema in 2023 with its gripping gun-fu and meticulously choreographed hand-to-hand combat sequences. While numerous John Wick imitators have sprouted up over the years, seeking to ape the franchise’s slick Steadicam action, very few have measured up. The Killer‘s Florida Man fight sequence, in which Fassbender’s character invades the home of a Floridian assassin, “The Brute” (Sala Baker), succeeds by offering audiences something different. Where John Wick delivers balletic fight sequences in gorgeous, neon-soaked locales, The Killer’s Brute fight is an immediate and visceral confrontation in a grimy, low-lit Florida home.

The fight, while still brilliantly choreographed, ditches John Wick’s ostentatious displays of martial arts prowess in favor of recognizable brutality; each blow makes a vivid impact, underscored by textured sound design and the gradual tearing down of both the environment and the fighters. With this realism, the sequence evokes an emotional intensity that’s largely absent from the John Wick movies. Wick’s (Reeves) identity as an unstoppable killing machine means that many John Wick action sequences, while thrilling, lack stakes. The Killer’s fight works because the hulking Floridian represents a tangible threat, imbuing the entire sequence with the real possibility that the Killer could actually lose.

The Killer Confirms David Fincher Needs To Direct A John Wick-Style Action Movie

While David Fincher has earned a reputation as one of cinema’s greatest thriller directors, The Killer’s Florida Man fight has given the director the best opportunity yet to flaunt his considerable action chops. With the future of the John Wick movies uncertain, the time may be right for another action franchise with a very different filmmaking language to take the series’ place. With The Killer’s Brute fight being one of very few mainstream action sequences to hold its own against John Wick: Chapter 4, Fincher has immediately announced himself as a frontrunner to helm a John Wick replacement.