Wes's Grade: B
Flawed yet dark, intense "Blackhat" manages to thrill
The dark new crime thriller "Blackhat" from Michael Mann kicks off 2015 as the year of Chris Hemsworth, starring in the first of his four films this year. Intense and slightly overlong, "Blackhat" isn't perfect, but it is a solid, entertaining crime thriller that's a rarity in the cinematic dumping ground known as January: it's actually a decent film. American and Chinese agencies work together to capture a cyber criminal who seems unmotivated by politics or finance, as he seeks to cripple the international banking network. With the help of furloughed convict Nicholas Hathaway (Hemsworth), the authorities pursue the mysterious figure through Chicago, Los Angeles, Hong Kong, and Jakarta. Directed, co-written and produced by Mann, who helmed similarily dark thrillers in "Collateral," "Miami Vice" and "The Insider," it's a servicably powerful crime drama that delves into the world of cyber crime with a stellar supporting cast and a predictably bloody last act. The handsome Hemsworth carries the film nicely, though it could've benefited from a stronger actor (Colin Farrell, Russell Crowe and Christian Bale all come to mind); there are instances in which his American accent slips, making for occasional, minor distractions, though some won't mind the eye candy. He's well supported in a strong turn by Viola Davis as an American colleague (who has some of the film's best lines), and the lovely Chinese actress Tang Wei, Taiwan actor Wang Leehom, along with character actors Ritchie Coster and Manny Montana as the film's chief villains. The romance angle between Wei and Hemsorth's characters is well handled by Mann, though it too is a minor distraction that adds some calculations to the story. Mann is an excellent director, and it is his strong visual eye and his often tight close ups that save the film, adding some intensity to the story, even in the aforementioned weaker, more violent and predictable final act, which is well-staged but slightly contrived: a seemingly unknown cyber criminal who somehow wants to come out of the dark. Stout and squirrelly, the intense, criminally entertaining "Blackhat" makes for a good escape on a cold winter's night.
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