Blackhat

January is often a slow month at the theater.

Other than catching up on some of those pesky limited releases coming over from the previous year, films that have been "banished" to a January release date aren't often all that memorable or worthwhile.

So it seemed interesting to me that a Michael Mann directed film would be seeing a release in January, not to mention a rather busy weekend of January (with American Sniper, The Wedding Ringer, and Paddington all seeing a wide release too).

On the surface, and from the trailers, Blackhat seems like the type of film that should be a hit. It's a story about a group of FBI agents trying to stop the next attack from an unknown blackhat (hackers that use their powers for bad) and they need to enlist the help of expert hacker, Thor, in order to follow the trail and catch the guy. Given that Michael Mann was at the helm, it's got a huge star attached to it, and it's on about as relevant of a topic as you can imagine, I would have expected this one to get a better release date.

Sometimes however, a release date can be the signal for other things, such as a film that, all things considered, isn't that special. This is what Blackhat represents. It's a missed opportunity in several ways, mainly being that the core premise of hacking and the insane amount of power that lies behind its use is barely explored. Once the final plot is revealed, it's interesting, yes, but also a bit of a letdown considering that the film starts out with taking a nuclear reactor offline. Granted the film wins points by being very logical in this regard, and I wasn't necessarily looking for some fantastical evil plot like poisoning everyone with a computer, but it just seemed like the movie as a whole and its endgame weren't really all that focused on displaying the highly scary nature and potential of hacking. I also found the film too long, which, based on the tedious nature that its mystery reveals itself, makes it feel a lot longer than its actual 133 minute runtime. The main culprit for this was a completely unnecessary love story between Hemsworth and a fellow female hacker that went nowhere, added very little to the plot, but took up far too much of its own time. It added a lot of time between important events and made the film feel like it was dragging.

"You see there? I DID order a large! I knew I was right!"

Who knew that hackers had such full, gorgeous,
luscious heads of hair?

That's all a shame too because Blackhat really could have been something pretty special given the material and the talent involved. I enjoyed its plot overall despite its shortcomings and the film plays out in a mostly logical and realistic way all while giving a bit of insight into the world of cyber warfare. The action scenes are few and far between, but filmed with classic Mann style (as is the rest of the film) and are gritty, up close, and intense. I also really enjoyed the original score for this one and found it be slightly reminiscent of Drive (I do mean very slight), but still matched with the scenes well and added that extra layer of tension.

Hemsworth does fine as the lead, but he doesn't really own the role nor is he believable in it. How is someone as ripped and good-looking as him one of the world's most brilliant hackers? Maybe I'm stereotyping, but still, I'm not sure he was the best choice. Everyone else does decent and I would say that Viola Davis gives the strongest performance out of the bunch.

Hey now! Thor doesn't use guns!

Blackhat isn't a bad film, not by any means. It's just a film that you wouldn't expect to be a typical January film: forgettable. It could have been so much more, subsequently making it so much better, but instead its merely an overly long, but mostly entertaining, film about gorgeous hackers that you won't really be able to recall anything about come February or March, much less the end of the year.

CONS:

• Really squanders the potential of the subject matter with a plot that, while realistic and logical, isn't all that impressive or scary
• Most people don't know the first thing about hacking. After watching Blackhat, most people still won't know the first thing about hacking. It doesn't care to explain its world too much
• Overly long
• The love story was unnecessary as it added nothing and was a bit cliché
• Why does it seem like everyone's accents are changing?
• Hemsworth does fine in the role, but I'm not sure he was the best choice
• The film drags in areas

PROS:

• The film is highly interesting as it gives us a peek into a world that not many of us know about
• Shot in classic Michael Mann style
• Strong action sequences
• At times the film goes deep into the bowels of a computer (using special effects of course) to show us just how tiny everything that is affected by hacking truly is. It's a effective tool at somewhat blowing your mind
• Very well done original score.

Rath's Review Score: 6/10