Haker

Mann has still got it six years later. To see how skillfully he wields the narrative language, taking shortcuts at important moments while taking the time to develop the personal levels of the characters, is simply a joy. It's too bad that the script is one of those where the filmmaker was either pushed to the wall or squandered his potential himself. The surprising civility and moderation, where hacking isn't done by hanging ten monitors around the protagonist (wave to Swordfish), is brought down by the totally watered-down second half where interest in anything (and yet the build-up to the hard-hitting finale is there) wanes. This isn’t even fixed by the uncompromising twist (Mann has always been able to be quite inhumane to his supporting characters), and despite the fact that even though we've seen this sort of "walking" finale from Mann before, he still manages to film it in such a way that it has the right kind of gradation. [Hemsworth is likable and he puts the effort in, but this typecasting is the major casting failure of the year and I didn't buy it for even a second.] (20.06.2015)

Michael Mann’s realistic and damn serious form again works great and one scene (unfortunately not the final one) is also stunning in its impact on the development of the story. Hemsworth’s uncompromising character of a hacker convict gives the film some balls and serves as a good driving force. The problem, however, lies in the script, which is simply not clever and sufficiently thought through to match Mann’s unique form (and it would be more fitting for a film with Wesley Snipes from a second-tier director). Mann’s films don't need a complicated plot. They are strong in the psychological portrayal of the main characters and fatally entangling them in banal but brutal crime plots. Blackhat works with a non-banal crime plot in an unfortunately oversimplified way, and the same goes for the psychological depiction of the characters. (14.01.2015)

Mann is undoubtedly capable of more than only making a "sophisticated B-movie". But it's still more entertaining and disproportionately better shot than most of the other movies in this genre. It is a slowly developing thriller in a trademark Mann's neon hypnosis style, where computers replace guns and command lines bullets. And to its detriment, the movie is largely ruined by the final scene with "two person on the run longing for revenge" that immediately turns it into overplayed mediocre genre movie that has nothing to offer and is completely predictable. (13.01.2015)

Thor may not have his hammer, but he does just fine with a keyboard and a screwdriver. And Michael Mann, due to various technical finesse, sometimes tries the viewers' attention too much and cannot shoot for a clean target, but his electrifying style is still equally captivating. Predecessors like Heat and Collateral are occasionally clearly visible, and that's a good thing. Digital, bullets, Chris Hemsworth, hands gripping the armrests, and a pulsating soundtrack by Harry Gregson-Williams and Atticus Ross. And a heart still beating to the rhythm even now. (14.01.2015)

The weakest screenplay that Mann ever filmed. It’s not downright bad, just not thought out well enough and in places pretty hollow. Old man Mike doesn’t know his way around the environment where he finds himself and so he can’t make it any better. So Blackhat works excellently as a story about an ex-con trying to acclimatize himself in the world (represented in glorious locations), but he is a bit dumb during the actual search for the hacker. On the other hand, isolated moments are filmed absolutely brilliantly, i.e. the textbook bank hack - revealing a rift in quality, which is unfortunate because with a crew of this caliber he could have worked wonders. Blackhat is maybe the best movie about hackers, but it reduces its watchability when it describes what the hacking involves. Other aspects work absolutely without any problem, sweet shootouts, chilling, fatal decisions. That’s why I like Mann’s movies, and they’re still going strong. In one scene he shocks you just like old times. The acting team is super, Hemsworth comes across like somebody who understands his trade and finds no problem in getting over the fact that he looks like a model/lumberjack and the romantic storyline with Wei Tang often surfaces throughout the movie. Probably a similar “fail" as Miami Vice, apart from the fact that due to the screenplay Blackhat can’t shine with the same absolute realism. (24.01.2015)