BLACKHAT
Directed by Michael Mann.
Written by Morgan Davis Foehl & Michael Mann.
Starring Chris Hemsworth, Tang Wei, Viola Davis, Wang Leehom.
When watching Blackhat, one gets the strong sense that this was a lost opportunity. Twenty years ago, Mann confirmed his credentials as master of the crime thriller with Heat.
Blackhat – with its international cast, cybercrime subject matter and diverse Asian locations – had the potential to define a new form for a new global generation. Unfortunately, instead it turns out merely to be a cash grab by Legendary Pictures and Mann himself.
With the China market now occupying an important place in movie studio’s plans, the fact that the story involves Chinese supporting characters that play out as ciphers reveals the motive behind its specific plot lines.
The casting of Hemsworth in the lead role as hacker Nick Hathaway is a joke – bringing to mind parallels with Swordfish (2011) when fellow Aussie Hugh Jackman was also as a hacker. Seriously, what computer geek looks like a hunk?
The film is a farce. It looks like a crappy video and is filled with so many plot holes that one is left laughing out loud at the ridiculous denouement. In fact, much of Blackhat is so amateurish that it comes across like a student film!
Singaporean audiences may want to catch Blackhat just to watch our very own Adrian Pang in action but his minuscule role isn’t really worth the price of admission. *Sigh*
In the cinemas now.