Movie Review: Blackhat

Michael Mann (Heat) hacks his way into theaters with Blackhat.

A nuclear plant in China is hacked into, resulting in the explosion of the plant by overheating the pumps.  Chen Dawai (Leehom Wang, Lust, Caution), a member of China's cyber warfare division, is given the task of tracking down the hacker.  Meanwhile, in the states, a trade exchange is also hacked into.  It seems that the same virus was used in both cases.  Dawai, along with his sister Lien (Wei Tang, Lust, Caution), work together with the FBI.  It comes out that Chen had written the original code for the virus, along with his old college roommate.  Enter super-hacker, extraoridnaire, Nick Hathaway (Chris Hemsworth, The Cabin in the Woods).  He's been in prison for computer crimes, but Dawai insists that he be released to help them catch the hacker.  What follows is an hour and a half of computer typing and code.  Then we get 20 minutes of action to spice it up, which is too little, too late.

I went into this movie wanting to like it.  I really did.  I feel that Mann has more hits than misses.  This just happens to be one of his biggest misses.  Ultimately, what killed this movie for me, is what usually draws me to most of his work.  The guy brings a level of authenticity to his films.  You want to know what authenticity in hacking is?  It's boring.  Forget all those movies where people can hack into anything with the touch of a button on a cell phone.  Real hackers send a .pdf file with a virus attached and wait for someone to open it up.  It's not real exciting.  That seems to be exactly what you get for the majority of this film.

It's almost as if Mann realized this exact problem with about a third to a fourth of the movie left.  He thought, wait a minute, I've got Chris Hemsworth.  There should be more action.  So, it turns out that Hathaway is not just a super-hacker, he can also kick all sorts of ass.  The problem with this, is that he ends up going on FBI raids.  He's a criminal being used for his computer skills.  Why is he now fighting alongside the FBI in shootouts, even if he is very capable?  I will admit, some of the kills towards the end are quite brutal.  Still, too little, too late.

So, what is it that you need if your "thriller" is nearly void of any action?  How about a good script, with some engaging dialogue?  That's another thing you will sadly not find in this film.  I can't really recall any dialogue in this film that held my attention.  Lien may have had some good lines, but I wouldn't have noticed because her English was so broken that for most of the film I could barely understand a word she said.

That brings us to the actors themselves.  I thought they were all kind of wasted here.  I genuinely like Hemsworth, but he wasn't given much to do with this role.  Viola Davis was also a big wasted opportunity as the FBI agent they worked alongside.  I think she is an excellent actress, but again, was given nothing to do.  All the other roles seemed to be just as forgettable.  The hacker himself did not even get any face time until the end.  It's unclear what the motivation was for filming him with his face hidden throughout the movie.  There is no impact whatsoever when it is revealed who he is.

One thing that did work in this movie was the cinematography.  Like most Mann films, the way he sets up his shots, it feels as if you are right there with the characters.  There's a grittiness and a realness to you that just kind of draws you in.  This, again, isn't enough to save the movie though.

With the real life threat of hackers going on today, such as the big Sony hack, this film could have had some real relevance.  Instead it just kind of falls flat.  The cinematography is good and the action picks up towards the end.  I even appreciate that it gives us a realistic view of hacking. It's just not enough.  Also, if you want to know what blackhat actually means, pay close attention.  It's thrown into the dialogue almost as if it was an afterthought.

Rating: ***------- (3 out of 10) [don't go out of your way]

Memorable Quote:

Hathaway: I'm doing time.  Time isn't doing me.