Review of Blackhat (2015) by Tyler R — 07 Jan 2016

The last film I enjoyed from Michael Mann was Collateral, over ten years ago. Since then, the director has turned in a few other films, but for me, each one has been more boring than the last. Blackhat, Mann's latest, is easily the most boring and dull of the bunch, which is odd considering the relevant material.

The film follows an imprisoned hacker who is let out by the government to help them stop another hacker. This very easily could have been a great film. You have subject matter which is very relevant, a pretty good cast, and Michael Mann.

And yet, nothing works at all, which is shocking. On the acting front, leading man Chris Hemsworth does the best he can with a terrible Brooklyn(?)/Boston(?) accent and little to no character development.

Everyone else? Literally pawns on a chess board, waiting to get taken out. When it comes to pacing, the film moves slower than a one armed hacker, dragging out the "drama", and even taking an odd creative route by showing the "virus" getting uploaded, which is as entertaining as watching paint dry.

The film is dark, grimy, and gritty, which is what Mann excels at. Unfortunately, it is also terribly boring, which is something that Mann has also been excelling at lately.