The Big Picture

• Michael Mann crafts a movie that immerses viewers in the authentic, high-stakes world of cyber-terrorism, while staying true to his visually striking style.
• Chris Hemsworth's performance as a hacker delivers gravitas and emotional depth, challenging stereotypes and adding nuance to the film's themes.
• Blackhat may have faced criticisms upon its release, but its realistic portrayal of virtual dangers and powerful ensemble cast make it a fascinating entry in Mann's filmography.

Michael Mann teamed up with Chris Hemsworth in 2015 for an action thriller about hacking and cyber-terrorism. Blackhat follows Hemsworth as a convicted hacker who is released from prison to help aid in an investigation after a covert hacker organization sabotages a nuclear site in Hong Kong. As with many of Mann's films, the insistence on authenticity may leave audiences feeling jarred, but Blackhat is simply a movie that demands close attention. The movie was criticized for pacing and structural issues, as well as the casting of Hemsworth. Despite mixed reception at the time, Blackhat is revealing itself to be a movie that audiences may have just not been ready for at the time.

There is a growing appreciation for the film's authentic portrayal of cyber-terrorism and technical elements that most Hollywood movies tend to gloss over or depict in a cartoonish fashion. Blackhat continues to follow through on Mann's experimentation with digital filmmaking, being the first of his films that is entirely shot on digital. The high-speed and unique look of his last few movies is built upon here, and feels resonant considering the film tackles themes relating to the expansion of new technologies. Blackhat may not make the top of the list for many critics or fans when evaluating Mann's entire career, but the film is aging into an important and interesting point in his filmography compared to how it was first received in 2015. The ensemble cast, slick cinematography, and realistic depiction of a scary new frontier of virtual dangers threatening the material world make Blackhat a fascinating variation on Mann's tried and true methods.

A Powerful Ensemble Rounds Out the Cast of 'Blackhat'

The criticism surrounding Hemsworth's casting became something of a punching bag around the discourse of Blackhat. Some found it hard to buy such a conventionally handsome movie star as someone who is adept at anything involving a computer. This point falls apart under scrutiny, as it is ultimately reductive, and reflects an audience unwilling to seriously engage with the movie from the very outset. Hemsworth even said himself, in a 2019 Variety profile, that he was not happy with his performance. As a counter to this, Hemsworth portrays the character with gravitas, and operates similarly to Colin Farrell's performance in Mann's Miami Vice. Mann's protagonists are often emotionally removed from everything around them, and this can make for a performance that feels stale until a closer viewing allows a greater appreciation for the nuances of the character.

Hemsworth is joined by Chinese actress Tang Wei, who notably had a knockout performance in Park Chan-Wook's Decision to Leave, as well as Viola Davis and Mindhunter's Holt McCallany. Wei portrays the sister of the man who worked with Hemsworth to write the code that has since been used by enemy hackers. Hemsworth and Wei develop a romantic relationship over the course of the film which complicates their work and raises the stakes for each of them. Wei plays one of the weightier female protagonists in a Mann movie, and she is given plenty of room to join in on the action herself instead of being sidelined as purely a love interest.

Davis and McCallany orbit the film as authoritative figures who need Hemsworth for their objective to be completed, but are not initially on board with him having such a prominent role in their mission. They are joined by a few other solid character actors as Mann tends to pack his movies with supporting roles for actors like John Ortiz who may not be household names, but who always bring something fresh to the movie they are in.

In 'Blackhat,' Michael Mann Tackles Tech With Authenticity and Foresight

In 2015, some viewers may have found the idea of a nuclear facility being sabotaged remotely by a team of hackers too much of a stretch, but this was loosely based on a real-life incident involving a computer worm that targeted the Iranian nuclear program. The other incident that kicks off the plot of the movie involved an attack on economic structures — another real threat that is posed by the unimaginable potential of cyber-crime. It is sobering to imagine nuclear plants melting down and economies crashing as a result of keystrokes on a faraway computer terminal, but information security experts claim Blackhat is a fairly authentic depiction of the reality of cyber-terrorism. Google's lead information security engineer called Blackhat "the most accurate information security film."

Michael Mann is a detail-oriented filmmaker, so it tracks that he would ensure that a foray into the world of hacking would bring to light real aspects of that field that viewers may be unfamiliar with. The movie contains some heavy jargon, and does not hold your hand through everything that is going on. However, you can trust that even with some artistic license taken for the sake of being cinematic, Mann has done his research, crafting a movie-going experience that will immerse viewers in a new world. Hacking is inherently not cinematic, like almost anything involving characters using computers or smartphones as a plot point in a movie or TV show. Framing scenes with such high stakes in a way where all we are seeing is characters staring at busy screens of information we do not understand can be quite boring. Mann is not a boring filmmaker, so when the action comes from within the virtual world, he places us within that world.

When Mann's neon aesthetic pulls us into the computer terminal itself to reveal dazzling patterns of grids, cables, and lights intersecting, the image evokes a similar feeling to that of seeing the cityscape of Los Angeles lit in a cool blue in Mann's masterwork crime epic, Heat. Mann's visual style melds so perfectly with this depiction of the virtual world as vast and dimensional as a lively metropolis. You might think when making a movie about hacking, you have to choose between entertainment or authenticity, but Mann proves swiftly with this underrated film that you can do both.

Blackhat is currently available to stream on Netflix in the U.S.

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