BLACKHAT
Movie review by David Blackwell
STUDIO: Universal Pictures/ Legendary Pictures/ Forward
Pass
Theatrical RELEASE DATE: 1-16-2015
DIRECTED by Michael Mann
BLACKHAT is one movie that was released on the wrong
weekend, but it may make its money in Asian markets due to the movie being set
mostly in China
and two of the five main characters being Chinese. I can say it is probably
one of those few
films that will probably be released theatrically in China as it paints an
atmosphere of cooperation between the Chinese and the American governments as a
Chinese investigator seeks the assistance of his old MIT friend Nicholas
Hathaway (Chris Hemsworth) who is in jail for computer hacking. Hathaway makes
a deal with the US Department
of justice that his sentence will be commuted if he can catch the one
responsible for using a RAT (Remote Access Trigger) to make the cooling fans of
a Chinese nuclear fail and manipulate the market, but he thinks the real target
is yet to come.
I did like BLACKHAT as it paints a timely scenario of
criminals using computer viruses to manipulate systems for personal gain and it
shows how vulnerable computer security is.
The sequences showing the movement of the RAT are really interesting and
there is even a shoot out that reminds you of the big gun battle in HEAT. The
plot and relationships aren’t new
territory for Michael Mann as the script feels like comfortable material for
him. The movie does go into developing
the characters a great deal even though the second big action sequence between
the bad guys and good guys is the last high point
for the film as BLACKHAT seems to coast from there as they finally find out
what the main bad guy is after. It is a
mess which does have some plot holes like why the FBI lets Hathaway and the
Chinese girl wander on their own to investigate during the first half of the
movie. BLACKHAT could have been more,
but I do think part of it’s poor performance is by releasing it against the
juggernaut known as AMERICAN SNIPER.
This review is ©1-23-2015
David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission. Send all comments
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