BLACKHAT (2015)

Genre: Thriller

Running Length: 2:15

Cast: Chris Hemsworth, Viola Davis, Tang Wei, Wang Leehom, Holt McCallany

Director: Michael Mann

Screenplay: Morgan Davis Foehl

I have been struggling to review BLACKHAT. I really wanted to like this movie because it features some Asian stars and it would be a good cross over opportunity for them to break into Hollywood. But the script is so dated (like something out of the 80s) it's actually embarrassing and to a certain extent, offensive to women. It seems that the main actress' (Tang Wei) existence in this film was just an excuse for Chris Hemsworth to remove his clothes. Come to think of it, Hemsworth does that in almost all his movies. Anyway, the premise of hacking and cybercrime is very real especially with the recent Sony hacking, but somehow this movie failed to capture the danger of it. Maybe it will never be fully conceptualized on the big screen because in actuality, there is nothing cinematic about cybercriminals punching away at a keyboard. And taking the viewers through the wires and cables ala CSI style does not count, that's just...lame. As this is a Michael Mann production, expect all his usual stylistic signatures to be present; mix of low grade hand-held sequences, lots of neon green and realistic shoutouts. The plot is pretty straight forward where 3/4 through, things become personal and suddenly our hulking Hemsworth's character just happen to know how to shoot a handgun and a natural at close-combat (The Raid style) with a screwdriver (oh, he's also a brilliant hacker, good looking and has incredible abs). That said, despite being overlong, Blackhat is generally engaging and Tang Wei does a good job in delivering her English dialogue. 

Rating: 4.5/10