Blackhat (2015)
Blackhat – We are no longer in control.
Chris Hemsworth———————————————-Nick Hathaway.
Viola Davis—————————————————–Carol Barrett
Leehom Wang————————————————-Chen Dawai
Wei Tang——————————————————-Chen Lien
Holt McCallany————————————————FBI Agent Jessup
John Ortiz——————————————————Henry Pollack
Ritchie Coster————————————————-Kassar
Yorick van Wageningen————————————- Villain
Directed by Michael Mann.
Screenplay by Morgan Davis Foehl.
Michael Mann is one of my favourite directors and when I watch his movies I am aware that he has done his homework. This movies delves into cyber terrorism and hacking. Who better than Michael Mann to take us into a world most of us will never see? His previous movies: Ali, Collateral, Heat, Public Enemies, Miami Vice, The Insider, Thief, Manhunter, etc… excel in character development. Unfortunately, he does not develop the characters in Blackhat enough for us to care.
There is a simple title shot “Blackhat” with no credits to start this movie. Michael Mann has decided to have the audience dive right in, no time wasted on credits. The movie opens with a visual of the computer route taken to hack and disrupt a nuclear power plant. Chen Dawai (Wang) has been tasked by the Chinese government to find the hacker that almost caused a nuclear meltdown in Chai Won. When he sees the code that was used he realizes that he and his former roommate at MIT were the one who wrote it. He enlist the help of his former roommate Nick Hathaway (Hemsworth) with the help of the FBI.
With little or no clues left to work with Hathaway is forced to break the law in order to catch the hacker. When the US Government finds out he has done some illegal hacking to a government site they demand that he be returned to prison. Hathaway runs and then he has both sides after him.
The technical jargon in this movie may be too much for some viewers. The movie itself is good but this is not Michael Mann at his best. There are many problems with this movie, like why would someone decide to stand upright in the middle of a gun fight? Why not stand behind something like a cement pillar? Spoiler Alert that character gets shot…..duh. The love story happens after a few minutes of screen time together. They just knew it was meant to be.
Thankfully, Viola Davis provides us with an excellent scene when she asks for the records of some stock transactions. The initial offer to Hathaway was also a good scene and the action sequences are still very good despite some set backs. This movie simply misses the mark. If you want to see this movie you must go quick because I don’t think it will be in theaters very long.
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Runtime: 133 Minutes
Production Budget: $70,000,000.
Box Office
Domestic: $7,889,395.
Worldwide: $17,752,940.
CC Rating: 6 out of 10
Screenplay: I could not find the screenplay.
Directors’ Previous Movies: Public Enemies, Collateral, The Insider.
If you liked this try: 48 Hrs, Red Dragon, Swordfish, Tequila Sunrise.