Blackhat Review: 6 Reasons why It’s Michael Mann’s Worst Movie Blackhat Review by Carlos Aguilar. With the intention of not being disrespectful or dismissed towards the director’s fruitful and often successful career, let us remember some of his achievement before I begin enumerating everything – and there is a lot – that’s terrible about his latest effort “Blackhat.” Mr. Mann is the filmmaker behind some of Hollywood’s modern classics like “The Last of the Mohicans” and “The Insider.” Although he has continued to be prolific throughout the years, recent films such “Miami Vice” and “Public Enemies” have not been received with the same acclaim. One could say his last great work was “Collateral” as a director was back in 2004. His body of work speaks of his talent to tell gritty, manly, and thrilling stories. It is because of this track record that I presumed “Blackhat” could be a vindicating, entertaining, and intelligent addition to Mann’s filmography. I was absolutely wrong. Just because I would like to pretend like the plot matters in this film I will give you the basic premise. Note that Mann didn’t write this screenplay and can’t be fully blamed for its infamy. Yet, that doesn’t mean his directorial ability was stellar. All you need to know is that Thor, aka Chris Hemsworth, is a brilliant hacker who agrees to cooperate with the FBI after a “blackhat” hacker causes damages to a Chinese nuclear plant. Hemsworth’s character, Nicholas Hathaway, wants his freedom in exchange for his help. Of course, he can’t take on this world-trekking mission on his own. His best friend at MIT, Captain Chen Dawai (Leehom Wang), Dawai’s sister and network engineer Chen Lien (Tang Wei), and FBI special agent Carol Barrett (Viola Davis) will join him. Together they must track down the evasive villain before he can commit more crimes. Their search will take them across exotic locations in Southeast Asia. Now that we got that out of the way, let me explain why, for over 130 minutes, I wanted the theater’s projector to be hacked and rid of this uninspired attempt to make a successful film about cyber crimes. Hemsworth’s Character… All of it If after reading this you still feel like you can find some enjoyment in “Blackhat” and decide to watch it, I want you to count how many times you see Hemsworth smile, or laugh, or showing a different facial expression in the film. Was the answer zero times? Of course it was. The actor has previously shown glimpses of depth in his work, but this time around the monotone demeanor and death-like face was overpowering. To be fair, he probably didn’t have much to work with a character that doesn’t give the audience any reason to care for him, unless you care for Thor. Hathaway’s past is summarized in a restaurant scene that tries to gives us a glimpse at the reasoning behind his life as a hacker. To call his character undeveloped would be offensive to all those other undeveloped characters in other films that at least manage to elicit some emotion. The Dull and Insipid Romance Like with every other scene, the romantic sequences are approached with a heavy dose of clichés and a lack of imagination that is disturbing. The lovemaking sequences are simply there to make us believe there is actually a more profound motivation for both Hathaway and Chen Lien. Insipid is the perfect word to describe their relationship. Eating a rice cake with a glass of water would be more flavorful or produce more excitement than any sequence in which Hemsworth and Wei are on screen. If you believe for a second that these two have chemistry I must assume you have never seen a film before. It was an excuse to include an Asian character without giving it nuanced emotions or really anything interesting to do. At least Tang Wei got to travel to cool places for this and can tell her friends she was in a film with Thor once. She was great in Ang Lee’s “Lust and Caution,” but here there is little she can do salvage this train wreck. The Most Ridiculous Villains At first there is an intriguing debate over whether the bad guys are working for political reasons or simply greed. One would hope for a complex and intelligent evil mind that could add some spice to the mix. But of course that’s not what happens here. It’s always about the money and without much purpose. Without revealing too much – in case you are still willing to endure this – I can say that one of the villains is a Middle Eastern or Eastern European man who is an avid killer but says very few words. It’s incredibly stereotypical, predictable, and ridiculous. This guy is a textbook baddy if there ever was one. When the “real” bad guy is revealed, is hard not to laugh at the absurdity. By the way, apparently in Indonesia if you pull out a gun and point it at someone in a crowd nobody will notice. At least that’s how “Blackhat” makes it seem in one of many WTF moments. Watch out for the henchman with the long, curly hair. He is funny when he runs. The Resolution is Contrived, Simplistic, and Snappy Again, I wouldn’t want to ruin the experience. But do know that after these people travel to numerous countries and do all sorts of mildly exciting feats, the resolution is unsatisfying. It will let you thinking, “That was it? All that trouble for this?” Ruining Viola Davis’ Character The only redeemable quality in “Blackhat,” besides making you want to visit some of the beautiful locations, is Viola Davis. Her character is tough and bold. Unfortunately there is not enough of her, and in a desperate attempt to imbue her character with emotional conviction, the writer pulls out a cheap trick in the last seconds of her appearance. Her motivation for fighting crime is pasted on quickly and ineffectively. The Last Shot Just to top it all off, as if this writer needed more reasons to hate the film, the last shot is so bafflingly predictable one could spit out the pop corn and soft drink in disbelief. There are sunglasses, an airport, a couple, and a shameless open-ended conclusion. Unbelievable. Hacking is really just an excuse for this film to exists. North Korea or whoever perpetrated the cyber attack against Sony is this film’s biggest marketing ally. If there wasn’t for the current interested and fear, the appeal would be even less. Interested in cyber warfare? Watch “The Interview” is at least stupidly entertaining and a tad subversive. That’s a movie people cared enough about to hack. “Blackhat” is now playing in theaters nationwide.
