Film review: Blackhat

There used to be a time when the name “Michael Mann” drew crowds to the cinema. With his trademark sense for cinematic realism cloaked in style, he produced some of the most critically praised mainstream action films for more than 20 years.

Last of the Mohicans and Heat put him on the map for those who weren’t already familiar with him after he had directed the first Hannibal Lecter film, Manhunter, four years before Anthony Hopkins made the role famous. He followed these up with The Insider, Ali and Collateral — the latter memorably featuring a silver-haired Tom Cruise as a killer for hire.

But then the trouble started. Miami Vice was a glitzy but messy adaptation of the beloved TV series, and Public Enemies was a moody but boring depiction of the final years of bank robber John Dillinger. And now comes Blackhat, a film whose story — a benevolent hacker takes on a malicious hacker — would have been unworthy of Mann’s name even a decade ago but today sadly fits his abysmal decline in the film industry just swell.

To read the full review, visit The Prague Post. Blackhat is currently on wide release in Bulgaria.

(Still of Chris Hemsworth and Wei Tang in Blackhat. © 2014 – Universal Pictures)

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