Director: Michael Mann
Writer: Morgan Davis Foehl (Screenplay)
Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Leehom Wang, Wei Tang, Viola Davis, Holt McCallany, Andy On, Ritchie Coster
Plot: A furloughed convict and his American and Chinese partners hunt a high-level cybercrime network from Chicago to Los Angeles to Hong Kong to Jakarta.
There may be spoilers the rest of the review
Verdict: Lacklustre Action Thriller
Story: Blackhat starts when a Chinese nuclear planet gets hacked leading to an explosion causing the whole world to take notice. Chinese use Chen Dawai (Wang) to liaise with the US and former hacker gone bad Nick Hathaway (Hemsworth) whose code was co-written with Dawai. The two old friends being marshalled by FBI agent Carol Barrett (Davis) and Dawai sister Chen Lien (Tang) must use all the tricks they know to find the hacker.
What follows is a race around the world to uncover just who the hackers really are and what their plan is other than destruction.
Blackhat really does end up just trying to be a completely unbelievable action film that struggles to even establish a villain, which is hugely disappointing because of how much they try to put on the leads. I struggled to even know what the villains name was let alone hi motive which has to go down as poor story telling. We get a lot of tech talk along with a lot of computer action which takes away the main reason for liking the action we like.
Actor Review
Chris Hemsworth: Nick Hathaway is the brilliant hacker who created malware which was used to blow up a nuclear plant in China, he is released from prison to join forces with both US and Chinese intelligence to find the hacker even if it means getting up to his old tricks. Chris does well with what he has to work with in this role.
Leehom Wang: Chen Dawai is the old friend of Nick’s who brings Nick into the investigation of what is happening with the hacker, between them they can both solve the problem from either side of the law. Leehom does a solid enough job in this role but struggles to look stronger than Hemsworth.
Wei Tang: Chen Lien is the sister of Dawai who is on this mission too as she starts a fling with Nick as they get closer to finding out who is responsible. Wei gives us a basic supporting performance without standing out.
Viola Davis: Carol Barrett is the FBI agent trying to keep tabs on Nick as she has to decide to follow the rules or catch the villains. Viola plays your typical authority role without being memorable.
Support Cast: Blackhat struggles to push the supporting cast to the next level with most of them being forgettable and the villain almost non-existent.
Director Review: Michael Mann – Michael has given us some brilliant films through the years but this one really has come up very short.
Action: Blackhat has basic action with a few fight scenes, firefights and running nothing that will be memorable.
Crime: Blackhat tries to play us on hacker versus hacker but the crimes being committed just don’t seem that important to the characters.
Mystery: Blackhat tries to create a mystery that doesn’t get too much to keep us guessing though.
Thriller: Blackhat doesn’t manage to bring us to the edge of our seats because by the end you have lost interest in the final plot.
Settings: Blackhat just takes us all over the world to try and make the film look like it is a global issue.
Special Effects: Blackhat has basic special effects when need but doesn’t rely on them.
Suggestion: Blackhat is one to miss really, it just doesn’t have enough to pull you in to care about what is going on. (Miss It)
Best Part: Hemsworth does well.
Worst Part: Lack of back story behind the villains.
Believability: No
Chances of Tears: No
Chances of Sequel: No
Post Credits Scene: No
Oscar Chances: No
Budget: $70 Million
Runtime: 2 Hours 13 Minutes
Tagline: We are no longer in control
Overall: Disappointing action thriller that lacks that spark
Rating
