Blackhat (2015)
Certified: 15
Duration: 133 minutes
Directed by: Michael Mann
Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Wei Tang, Viola Davis, Ritchie Coster, Holt McCallany, Yorick van Wageningen, Leehom Wang, Andy On, Manny Montana, William Mapother, Archie Kao
KRS Releasing Ltd

The world comes under a cyberattack threat when a terrorist uses electronic means to cause a meltdown and disaster at a nuclear power plant in China. This attack has the same elements and trademarks of another attack that had occurred in the US.

Chen Dawai (Leehom Wang) is a computer genius and security officer with the Chinese government. He travels to the US to find Nicholas Hathaway (Chris Hemsworth), an old friend and former classmate when the two were still at MIT university.

Nicholas is also a computer genius... the problem is, he is in prison. With the help of FBI agents Carol Barrett (Viola Davis) and Mark Jessup (Holt McCallany), Chen gets Nicholas released so he can help him track down the hacker who is causing all this chaos. Along with him is Chen’s sister Lien (Wei Tang).

Nicholas soon clashes with Kassar (Ritchie Coster), a vicious criminal who is also linked to the cyber terrorist. Their mission takes on an international dimension as they travel to China, Indonesia and Malaysia.

Nicholas endangers everything when he hacks the National Security Agency mainframe to get a software programme. The group comes under attack and not all will survive. At the same time, Lien and Nicholas get closer to each other. Meanwhile, the threat level is alarming and takes the world to the edge of disaster.

Michael Mann has directed some of the best cinematic exper-iences I have been through: the epic The Last of the Mohicans (1992), the sublime Heat (1995), the intense The Insider (1999) and the relentless Collateral (2004) are only some of his works. His 1986 movie Manhunter is now a deserved cult movie.

Mann’s movies are always character-driven and yet have a visual aura and signature to them that even when these are below his usual standards, they are usually miles ahead of the crowd.

The highlight is the digital cinematography which has always been Mann’s forte, with visually-gripping night-time sequences

His recent effort is a well-rounded production that has plenty of drive and chutzpah to it to raise it above other competitors in the thriller genre. Whether or not Blackhat reaches the status of the classic Mann oeuvre, that is still open to judgement and only time will tell.

The film has many elements in its favour, not the least of which is its subject, which is very contemporary. Cyber terrorism is regularly on the news headlines and is becoming one of the greatest threats to modern day society.

Mann builds, amplifies and escalates the threat accordingly, placing the audience on the brink of exhaustion. He manages to turn what could have been an unexciting element, such as fingers typing on a computer keyboard (as basically that is what hacking involves), into a gripping affair. It’s the way the film conveys the fear that we are all at risk, on both a global scale and on a personal level, that gives Blackhat its resonance.

Hemsworth plays Nicholas as if he were Thor without his hammer! He makes for a strong action hero and carries the film well, even though I would have imagined someone more like a Joseph Gordon Levitt in this role. Wei provides adequate screen attraction while Coster is villainous and despicable.

The film’s highlight is the digital cinematography which has always been Mann’s forte, with the neon-coloured night-time sequences being visually gripping.

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