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Critics Consensus: Thematically timely but dramatically inert, Blackhat strands Chris Hemsworth in a muddled misfire from director Michael Mann.
Critic Consensus: Thematically timely but dramatically inert, Blackhat strands Chris Hemsworth in a muddled misfire from director Michael Mann.
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All Critics (181) | Top Critics (40) | Fresh (59) | Rotten (122)
Hints of a quasi-apocalyptic chill seem arbitrary-neither symbolic nor dramatic. The effect is like watching software run itself.
Nobody can top Mann's urban night scenes, with their oily neon and skyscraper light grids, but for the most part this plays like Heat without the heat.
Let's start with the fact that Hemsworth stars as the world's most brilliant hacker. Let that sink in for a moment.
The movie's most depressing feature is its naked pandering for overseas box office. If there's one thing worse than appealing to the lowest common American denominator, it's appealing to the lowest common global denominator.
It has a decent ludicrousness and Mann's one-of-a-kind talent for using digital photography and naturalistic light to complicate and invigorate anonymous spaces.
Given our brave new cyber world, someone in Hollywood is going to have to come up with a better way to do it. Watching actors tap out code as big buzzing screens of digital data flash on the screen just doesn't cut it.
Unfortunately, the sluggish Blackhat is another stiff serving of the cyber-techno crime genre that is becoming so awkwardly prevalent in modern-day synthetic actioners.
Arrives with such a resounding thud that one feels compelled to start a forensic investigation before the closing credits have even rolled.
"Blackhat" is perfect if you're suffering from insomnia.
Blackhat still manages to deliver the action while avoiding most major action frustrations.
Blackhat muddles the line between trying to be realistic and action-packed fun, but instead comes across as a potential cure for insomnia
Mann's problem is that, like other directors before him, he can't find a way to make cybercrime look very interesting on screen.
It's good... but just too slow moving.
Super Reviewer
Cyber thriller that relies on its style instead of an engaging plot. A much leaner, shorter film would have worked better, but Mann still knows how to film terrifying shootouts. There just aren't that many here, sadly. The locations are pretty great too, but the hacking elements just don't work as well as the conspiracy thriller parts. There are still quite a few memorable scenes here, especially thanks to the exotic locations and the charismatic leading duo, but the result could have been so much more engaging.
The film's story and direction are both perfectly fine, run-of-the-mill, mass market Hollywood action. The problems here are the unconvincing and unheroic Hemsworth in the role of the hero, a typically snotty-for-no-reason Viola Davis setting an inappropriate tone, and some really, really, really stupid situations that should have been reconsidered by the director. However, if you can buy absurdities like men bulldozing their way through a parade with no one noticing, a man violently stabbing two men to death with a screwdriver in the middle of the parade (again!) with no one noticing, and crowds of people fleeing in terror TOWARD gunmen who are opening fire in the middle of a parade, then "Blackhat" may be a wonderful film for you. For the rest of us, we may need to work particularly hard to suspend disbelief if we are to enjoy this film.
Hathaway: The real hit is still to come... Blackhat is a slickly-produced techno-thriller from co-writer/director Michael Mann. While Mann continually enjoy exploring the relationship between cops and crooks, this film and the last couple efforts from Mann (Miami Vice, Public Enemies) seem to feature same issue: personality vs. interest. The fact is, all of Mann's films have tons of personality, given his stylish tendencies, but his recent efforts have unfortunately not left us with much to connect with, beyond the visuals, committed (yet somewhat shallow) performances, and visceral quality of the action in his features. Blackhat does nothing to really change that around and while a January release date is harsh sentencing for a director that continues to put what I imagine is tons of effort into his productions, it stands to reason that a film with a couple action-based highlights amidst a world filled with exotic locals, techno-jargon, and the handsomest hacker of them all could only draw up so much excitement. That in mind, I am still a Mann fan and while bloated, I tend to enjoy the visual language Mann puts on the big screen, overweighing my need for a more enjoyable screenplay, which is still unfortunately the issue with these recent Mann projects. read the whole review at thecodeiszeek.com
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