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Chris Hemsworth is the world’s buffest and least credible hacker.
CDirector Michael Mann faced two big challenges in his latest film, Blackhat. First, he had to make the acts of typing in and reading computer code interesting to mainstream audiences. Second, he had to convince them that Chris Hemsworth was actually the world’s best hacker. He wasn’t successful on either count. To make matters worse, he overdirected the actions scenes in the movie so that they were even less interesting that the scenes featuring Hemsworth hammering away at his keyboard.
Blackhat is the code name for a hacker who, in short order, sabotages a Chinese nuclear reactor and wreaks havoc with the U.S. commodities markets. China and the United States (represented by FBI agent Viola Davis) join forces to catch the hacker. The Chinese computer expert persuades Davis to release Hemsworth from prison to aid in the effort. The villain’s plot is actually rather clever, and the detective work involved in tracking him down is interesting and easy to follow. To overcome computer programming’s inherent lack of visual interest, Mann tries to jazz up the movie with his trademark dazzling visuals (the nighttime shots of Hong Kong are spectacular), and several action sequences.
Ultimately, however, Blackhat feels like an entertaining one-hour television episode blown up to a lumbering two hours. The action scenes in particular lack Mann’s usual energy. The picture and sound quality in these sequences felt amateurish, and they needed much tighter editing. Add in the wooden performances by Hemsworth and his love interest, Chinese actress Wei Tang, and the result is a movie that’s never more than mildly interesting.
This clip shows how Michael Mann tried to make the computer work in Blackhat as interesting as possible. You can read our full review on on Silver Screen Cinema.
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