Blackhat [DVD]

The critics were unfairly harsh on this film, I think, for a lot of the usual reasons, the main thing being that Blackhat is not your generic Hollywood thriller trying to imitate Bourne Identity or whatever but is actually more of an auteur work, similar to what Michael Mann did with Miami Vice. As I said, this is a Mann film and his style and approach to film making is all over this thing. The movie could have easily been much better, but for what it is, I was entertained by it. In keeping with the kind of ponderous, meditative and weird approach Mann often has to his movies, Blackhat is not really some breathlessly paced crime thriller with tons of action sequences, but more of an oddly paced procedural with lots of that very atypical Michael Mann stop-and-go framing. Similar to some of his previous films, the movie simply drops you into a situation with very little backstory or characterization (something that got a lot of negative reviews when he did the same thing in Miami Vice). The movie just starts.....GO!...and you're off and running with this story about a bunch of people trying to catch a cyber-terrorist. The storyline is fairly weak, and by far it's weakest element is the inexplicable romance between Hemsworth and Tang Wei which has no source in anything and involves two people with absolutely nothing in common, yet becomes the lynchpin of the entire film. This is where I think Mann made a mistake. In Miami Vice, the romance element was cleverly balanced with the obvious factor that the relationship was doomed from the start and had no future. Here, though, it comes this central element for literally no reason other than "we must have a romance in our movie because reasons." As someone who knows a little about computers and the old-school method of hacking and all that sort of thing, I thought the film admirably relied on being very accurate with its portrayal of the technology...which is great if you know what the hell all the people are typing on the screen and talking about. If you don't...well...there's no explanation whatsoever. Having said that, though, the film's uber cyber terrorist laughably somehow manages to avoid being traced while committing major crimes, but a simple "whois" command will reveal a proxy IP to a server he is using to view a remote camera? Putting all that aside, the film does feature some nice, very distinct Michael Mann-ish moments, from the gorgeous photography and handheld camera work, to a few fantastic sequences that are clearly his signature work. Ultimately, the problem is that, like some of Mann's previous films, this movie is more of a kind of meditative thing where the style IS the substance. As a result, it has a lot of shortcomings. I wouldn't say it's his worst movie, that honor goes to Public Enemies,. but it definitely is not on the level of Heat or Collateral or Miami Vice. But, if like me, you're already a huge fan of that distinct style and craft that goes into Mann's movies, I can't see this film letting you down much. It's easily worth a rental.

The first time I saw this excellent film was a modified for television run and I LOVED it. Granted there were some scenes that didn't flow real well and I figured that there were cut scenes or something from the theatrical cut? I still loved this movie anyway. Later on, a few weeks passed and I couldn't stop thinking about this film and if you are a Mr. Mann fan, he has a way of making you think about his movies days/weeks and sometimes months afterward... For me Michael Mann makes films SO expertly-directed, that I will think about his movies for years after the fact. If you are unfamiliar with the name 'Michael Mann' it is very likely that you watched and loved 'Last of the Mohicans' or have heard of Tom Cruise's and Jamie Foxx's 'Collateral' or even the 'Miami Vice' remake also starring Mr. Foxx too. Ironically, when I saw this film the first time on the tv, it reminded me of a Michael Mann film, I am sure that you can surmise my delight, when the ending credits showed the director's name... After renting this film again just a few weeks after seeing on tv - this version was infinitely better as this version has scenes that completely sense of what is happening in the story. For me the movie was only better. The acting was great, the drama about two friends being reunited with one of them, falling in love with his friend's sister made it more interesting.. If you have not seen this movie yet I don't want to give anything away, suffice it to say that I wish I could see it again for the very first time. I would highly recommend this techno-action drama for every reason that you may enjoy a movie!

Good

I watched this movie twice and still didn't understand it all. (Spoilers ahead.) In the first place, the subject was something that make people's eyes glaze over and the movie minutes spent showing the inner workings of a computer and networks was annoying. I know it's fiction, but too much of it was unbelievable. The main question that jumped out at me was would even a sociopath trying to get rich cause something as devastating as a nuclear melt-down so he could test a brand of pumps? I accepted that Nick was genius who could figure it all out, but after all of the tension of the globe-hopping and running, the solution to the mystery was kind of dull. The end wasn't all that satisfying either. What was going to happen to Nick and Lien? What kind of future did they have? ..... Basically, not a great movie, but watching Chris Hemsworth and Tang Wei was worth four stars. Even with minimal dialogue, the two of them had powerful attraction to each other and chemistry.

The slickest and smartest cyber-terrorism film I've seen to date. I didn't enjoy Paranoia, and Swordfish was worse than useless. For a start, this is a Michael Mann film, and for me and many others that's a guarantee of an exciting adventure. Strangely I had watched Miami Vice a few days ago and so the hero-falls-for-oriental beauty storyline featured in that and this, and both have the Mann trademark exotic locations and fast-moving story. Chris Hemsworth is a fairly safe pair of hands and is quite believable in his role, and unlike many other such films this has full believability in terms of the way the events unfold and the actual cyber-theory itself. The global threat developing into the curiosity factor of what the motives are. Political? Financial? Ideological? It takes a while for that to reveal itself and keeps us guessing while the relentless action moves at pace.It's a Michael Mann film. Nuff said.

Before watching this I was surprised to see that Blackhat is much maligned, and has a really poor reviews on IMDB. In general I like Michael Mann’s work, and even if he has never quite reached the heights of Heat or Last of the Mohicans in recent years, I’ve enjoyed most of his movies.Blackhat is a movie which I immediately liked, but as the story progressed I found myself getting more and more frustrated. Firstly, this has all of Mann’s trademark quirks – digital photography with crushed blacks and excessive grain which are entirely artistic decisions, and dialogue levels which are often too low.Personally I don’t mind the look of the movie, and the dialogue issues weren’t as bad as some of his other movies (see Public Enemies and Miami Vice); the problem for me was that the movie was miscast and the plot had too many silly moments.It’s slow paced, and when the action does happen it’s again signature Mann – ear splitting gun fire where you feel like every bullet is real, and an intenseness that works despite falling short of the seminal Heat robbery shootout.This isn’t as bad as many reviews that I’ve read, but neither is it a memorable movie. With too many flaws, namely a lack of coherence, logic and chemistry/believability of the characters, this sits firmly in the “watch once, and maybe not at all” category.Film Quality – 6/10Video Quality – 6/10Audio Quality – 8/10

Despite the film not reaching the heights of Heat, Collateral or The Insider Michael’s Mann’s visually stylish and intriguing cyber-crime action thriller is still worth watching. The ‘blackhat’ of the title refers to a hacker who violates computer security for malicious or personal gain. The film starts with a deadly meltdown at a nuclear power plant in China followed by a manipulation of the soy futures on Wall Street, leading to both the Chinese government and the FBI concluding that the cause of these events was the intrusion of a RAT (Remote Access Tool) by a hacker and that only by working together will they find the criminals responsible for the breaches of the security systems. With the aid of a convicted hacker (Chris Hemsworth) the hunt is on to catch the criminals before they can inflict more mayhem. The overall tone of the movie appears slightly ethereal as the narrative moves from Los Angeles to Hong Kong to Jakarta and the cinematography is superb, whether it is the cityscapes or skilfully choreographed action set-pieces. Inevitably, there are conflicts of interest and issues of loyalty and betrayal as characters have to make choices. On reflection, a movie to watch on television or rent (as I did) rather than purchase.

Allow me to quote Peter Bradshaw (The Guardian) on this:"Michael Mann’s films almost grunt with machismo; even when nothing much is going on, they flex and strain and vibrate, like a weightlifter who’s hoisted the bar up to chest level, in preparation for getting it over his head. The spectacle here is sometimes absorbing but more often ridiculous, and it isn’t his best work. Blackhat is an action thriller, with Mann’s traditional heavy-artillery shoot-outs, on a notionally contemporary theme: computer hacking. It’s a difficult subject to dramatise, and actually, Blackhat often looks like an old-fashioned McGuffin thriller, in which our fugitive hero and heroine are allowed to run, hand in hand, down the escalator into a subway.Chris Hemsworth plays convicted hacker Nick Hathaway, who is seen in his cell reading Foucault’s Discipline and Punish. Nick is sprung from prison by FBI agent Carol Barrett (Viola Davis) working alongside Chinese agent Chen Dawai (Wang Leehom), who need this freethinking, badass genius to help catch a “blackhat” cybercriminal who has destroyed a Hong Kong nuclear reactor. Nick joins their quest, and finds himself falling for Dawai’s beautiful sister Chen, played by Wei Tang (from Ang Lee’s 2007 film Lust, Caution). Most of the Mann ingredients are in place: an exchange of fire escalates to a quasi-military engagement. Characters whizz from place to place in helicopters and private aircraft. When someone has their hands up and a gun at the back of their head, well, that is when they’re at their most dangerous. Disappointingly, the one Mann signature scene missing is the sweaty dialogue face-off between two males, but no one is really in Nick’s alpha league."

I will always revisit my Michael Mann dvd collection (including Jericho Mile on VHS), however I will never watch this (Blackhat 2015) again. Tedious long film that almost seems to be like the left-overs of Miami Vice if you switch the handsome Colin Farrell for the handsome younger Chris Helmsworth.Miami Vice struggled to get over the finish line, and it had a fantastic soundtrack. However Blackhat fails to get out of the starting blocks, and the soundtrack is rubbish (even the composer wanted his name removed from the film credits).