Plus: The Manila Pop Culture Convention postmortem
David Fincher, Michael Fassbender, Tilda Swinton and the tandem of Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross are enough to get me to watch Netflix’s “The Killer.” But for those expecting lots of slam bang action — this might not be the movie for you.
Imagine John Wick being turned into an Ent from Lord of the Rings, that would be Michael Fassbender’s unnamed titular character. He does use aliases like Felix Unger, Oscar Madison, Howard Cunningham and Archie Bunker, which will ring a bell to television viewers of a certain age.
“The Killer” opens up with an internal monologue — he philosophizes about his career and how being friends with boredom is an essential part of the whole assassin enterprise. He constantly listens to The Smiths and does yoga. He muses about the nature of life and death. Death is just the one true certainty of existence.
“Consider yourself lucky if our paths never cross. Except, luck isn’t real. Nor is karma. Or sadly, justice. As much as I’d like to pretend these concepts exist, they just don’t.”
Spoiler. It’s about twenty minutes into this two-hour movie before the first shot is fired.
The Killer talks about being meticulous and being ice-cold — except he is not like this every single moment. He does drop the proverbial ball and that’s where the plot is set into motion.
The movie is based on a graphic novel of the same title written by Alexis Nolent and illustrated by Luc Jacamon. It’s an interesting cinematic take on hitman life.
For a while, it looked like The Manila Pop Culture Convention aka Manipop would be a really thrilling for fans who wanted to see foreign talent — Emily Swallow, The Armorer from “The Mandalorian” and Diana Lee Inosanto, Morgan Elsbeth from “The Mandalorian” and “Ahsoka” were scheduled to appear along with Mackenyu.
However, a few days before the event, it was announced the Star Wars women were no longer going to make their appearance.
While Mackenyu showed up, fans complained about the quality of shots for the photo ops, the awkwardness of the results, the hours-late start and last-minute announcement of extra protocols.
Conventions have been mushrooming as hardcore fans are willing to part with their funds, buy tickets, stand in long lines, go through traffic, maybe even get on plane and book a hotel for an event that will let them celebrate their fandom and be in the same room with their favorites.
Newer organizers should absolutely consider what the experience will be like for these fans, not just take their money and forget about delivering what they deserve after all they put in. Comic Con Asia folded after one attempt and we might not see another CONQuest again.
Whoever throws their hat into the ring, respect your market. And fans, ask lots of questions about who the organizers are, what their reputation is and yes, make them accountable.
The next big event is likely to be Super Manila on December 15 to 17 at the Circuit, this convention focuses more on comic book artists and writers. Scheduled to appear are Whilce Portacio, Budjette Tan, Kajo Baldisimo and Leinil Francis Yu among others.