Review of Blackhat (2015) by Guapogrande — 03 Apr 2019

Shocked to see this rated so low. It's a tense, twisty, gorgeously shot action thriller with way more cinematic talent behind it than 95% of the shlock Hollywood makes these days. It does a great job of bringing Mann's usual themes (professionalism in the face of danger, honor amongst thieves, crime as operatic conflict of good vs. evil) and brings them into the modern era with one of the most realistic portrayals of hacking as a tool of theft and terrorism ever committed to film.

Hemsworth is great as a classic brooding, masculine, Mann-style tough-guy protagonist, and the Chinese brother/sister duo helping him are some of the more believable and charismatic Asian stars I've seen. The music, atmosphere, and cinematography are all painfully good. Sure it's not a super-deep story (though by the end it succeeds at transcending the basic "will they catch the bad guy" premise it starts out with), but it has heft and craftsmanship like a Kimber 1911.