'Blackhat'
The Ringer's Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan are doing the time, the time isn't doing them. In the ultimate "One for Them," the guys rewatch Michael Mann's 2015 film 'Blackhat,' starring Chris Hemsworth, Tang Wei, and Viola Davis.
Cast
Chris Hemsworth as Nick Hathaway
Tang Wei as Lien
Viola Davis as Carol Barrett
Leehom Wang as Chen Dawai
Holt McCallany as Marshal Mike Jessup
Ritchie Coster as Kassar
John Ortiz as Supporting role
William Mapother as Supporting role
Directed by: Michael Mann
Music by: Harry Gregson-Williams
Notes
- Budget: $70 million. Box office: $19 million. One of the biggest failures of Mann's career.
- Legendary Pictures took a $90 million write-down.
- Released same weekend as American Sniper, which 'annihilated' it.
- Originally titled 'Cyber.' Mann admitted: 'It's my responsibility. The script is not ready to shoot.'
- Described as a 'one for us' / 'top 5 one for us' – a niche pick that Bill and Chris love.
- Based on/inspired by the real Stuxnet hack.
- Google's information security engineer called it 'the most accurate information security film I've ever seen.'
- The director's cut rearranges the structure and is significantly better.
Categories
Quote from Rog's review:
“If you see it in a theater, sit as close as you can and let its images wash over you.”
No Ebert review (he had passed). Matt Zoller Seitz on RogerEbert.com gave it 3.5 out of 4.
- Bill: The car explosion / Chen Dawai's death scene – 'an all time wow moment in the theater'.
- Chris: The Kassar hideout/basement raid and shootout (the Sheko fight).
- Also: The opening credits hacking sequence, the Korean restaurant fight, Barrett interrogating Gary ('Am I being tangible, Gary?').
- The film's accuracy about cyber threats has aged extremely well.
- Viola Davis's performance ('fan-fucking-tastic').
- Holt McCallany ('has the Seymour part in this movie').
- Michael Mann's location/cooking shots.
- Elite skills trapped in jail as a movie premise.
- Hemsworth's accent (tried a Chicago accent, then abandoned it).
- Dense/confusing plot and exposition dialogue.
- Audio mix issues from Mann's re-editing (replacing audio in first 25 minutes).
- The 'guy went to jail because he injured somebody in a fight' trope.
- Chris: The Michael Mann synths – the alarm sound during the pier shootout that transforms into techno music.
- Harry Gregson-Williams' score was largely replaced; he publicly complained on Facebook.
- How confusing the movie is on first watch.
- 'You have to watch this for like eight years to understand it'.
Bill: 'This is not even close to being Michael Mann's worst movie' – Public Enemies is worse.
Ritchie Coster as Kassar sweeps it – bald, bearded, smoking, shirtless, tattooed bad guy.
- Bill: John Ortiz.
- Chris: William Mapother (Tom Cruise's cousin, from Lost).
- Ritchie Coster as Kassar sweeps overacting + that guy.
- Hemsworth with an Australian accent would have been fine.
- Consensus pick: Adam Driver – believable as both a hacker and an action guy.
- Also discussed: Jeremy Renner, Jake Gyllenhaal.
- Harry Gregson-Williams composer drama: credited but his music was largely unused; he posted about it on Facebook.
- Mann's savage quote: 'If a composer wants to have his music standalone, he should be a recording artist'.
- Originally titled 'Cyber'.
- The director's cut aired once on FX; significantly rearranges the structure.
- Hacking on screen.
- Soy futures.
- Chris Hemsworth way too handsome to be a hacker.
- The ending fight: Hathaway and Sadak talking to each other from 50 yards away during a massive loud ceremony.
- The whole movie is tech/cyber-focused but the ending is just a primitive knife fight.
- The replaced/dubbed audio in the first 25 minutes.
- Magazine body armor.
- Prequel: Hathaway in prison (like 'Shot Caller' but with hackers).
- Sequel: Bring Hathaway out of retirement when another hacker emerges.
- Prestige TV: Best scenario – lets you fill out all the rushed parts.
- 'All three are untouchable'.
- Is hacking really this easy?
- Why does Hathaway need to confront Sadak in person when he already has the $74 million?
- Did Mann intentionally repeat the 'Miami Vice' formula (famous Asian actress + romantic subplot set in Asia)?
Bill: The transmitter he finds in the plant.
'I do my own time, not the institution's. Hold on to who you are in there.'
- Chris: First episode of Tokyo Vice (Mann-directed pilot).
- Bill: 'Sneakers' (1992) – 'watch how hacking gets a lot more complicated'.
Viola Davis – consensus. 'She owns every scene. It actually makes me mad that she's not in more of the movie.'