Universal Pictures | Release Date: January 16, 2015
5.4
USER SCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 149 Ratings
USER RATING DISTRIBUTION
Positive:
52
Mixed:
59
Negative:
38
Watch Now
Stream On
Stream On
Buy on
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Expand
Review this movie
VOTE NOW
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Check box if your review contains spoilers 0 characters (5000 max)
3
ThegodfathersonJan 16, 2015
Blackhat tries to be the new Heat and some action scenes actually look like Micheal Mann copied them straight out of Heat and Collateral. This cyber thriller stars Liam Hemsworth as a convict hired by the government to stop an internationalBlackhat tries to be the new Heat and some action scenes actually look like Micheal Mann copied them straight out of Heat and Collateral. This cyber thriller stars Liam Hemsworth as a convict hired by the government to stop an international hacker. Wow, I have to say I was excited. But minutes into it, I lost all trust of Mann bringing us the next hacker heap of destruction and handheld camera shots. The camera shots are frustrating, they are annoying, shaky and fuzzy at times. That was a bum for a great director like Mann. The sotry was good, but everything else falls apart. The acting is great but it could have been way better. Blackhat is a disappointing one. 3/10. Expand
2 of 6 users found this helpful24
All this user's reviews
1
ScrawnyPunkFeb 13, 2015
This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Awful. I love Michael Mann movies, but this was just terrible. I will summarize as follows - hunky computer geek with insane personal combat skills (???) catches an international cyberterrorist and walks away with enough money to live lavishly forever with his new, hot girlfriend. With that being said, there is a gunfight or two and NOBODY stages a gunfight like Michael Mann. I mean no one...that was a great scene. The rest of the movie? Meh...

Here's the deal - the plot is absolutely braindead. The plot twist (spoiler) is that the earlier hacks are a test run to destroy some tin mines and make a killing on the futures market. BUT...the hacker can apparently manipulate future markets anyway (that's how he got his front money), so why bother with the Tin scheme? Why not just do that Chicago Mercantile Exchange hack over and over again? Because Thor needs to kick some ass, that's why. I guess. I dunno. Just seems like the "surprise" is nothing more than a repeat of the beginning of the movie.

Very disappointing. I suspect Mr. Mann's next one will be great. For every Heat, he makes an Ali. For every Collateral he makes a Blackhat. Next one has to be fantastic, right?
Expand
1 of 4 users found this helpful13
All this user's reviews
0
ShiranaiJan 17, 2015
Where to begin brief intro. One this review only reflects first 30 minutes as I couldnt watch anymore 2 I generally feel critics are too harsh on some movies they rate poorly. I have reviewed films myself in the past and used to work for aWhere to begin brief intro. One this review only reflects first 30 minutes as I couldnt watch anymore 2 I generally feel critics are too harsh on some movies they rate poorly. I have reviewed films myself in the past and used to work for a movie theater I love movies and will generally watch anything I am even remotely interested in regardless of whether I think it is reviewed well or not. I am a firm believer of never walking out of a movie before it ends giving the full runtime to the film to come out with an accurate review. I am being a hypocrite right now this movie is godawful I couldn't watch another second of it. That is enough of an intro on to the actual review.

In the first 30 minutes next to nothing happens now if this was setting up the origin of the story or characters that is fine I really dont mind when a movie starts with a slow pace but there is a difference between a movie with a slow pace and a movie that does almost nothing in the first act of the film. Here are some random things that happened. Someone causes a virus to infect chinese nuclear systems to cause a core to overmelt. This is expressed in two ways a 5 minute scene of data running through wires in what is some of the worst cg I have ever seen in a film and actors staring dramatically at eachother with a few nods. A hacker looks at the code of what happened and angrily slams his laptop closed and pushes some paper off his desk. Chris Helmsworth character helped create the code so he is negotiating his terms.

You have good actors giving bad performances with bland dialogue you have more solemn stares you have more crappy cg sequences of data going through wires.

Very little emotion is shown by anyone no explanation is given as to what type of hack it was what terms they are throwing about with no definitions.

I have a basic understanding of cyber attacks and hacking not a great one not a nonexistant one but at least in the 30 minutes I saw if you are interspersing horrible cg with random hacking terms and not explaining anything to the audience that is just poor planning

This is the 3rd movie I have walked out of in my life One I was sick and had to leave for as a child one was premonition with sandra bullock and now this one in my 29 year obsession with cinema I have seen around 500 films in theaters. Normally I feel critics grade a film too harshly if it isn't an oscarbait film currently I simply find nyself dumbfounded by any critics giving this film higher then a 20 on a 100 point scale. I have watched so many crappy movies all the way through where I knew it was a bad movie but I just kept watching it to able to give a fair judgment. This one is so bad it doesnt deserve the full runtime.

If a film is 2 hours and nothing has happened in the first 30 minutes? That is a problem. I am not saying nothing cool or exciting happened I am literally saying nothing happens. Again bad cg animation hacker terms with no explanation and good or at least decent actors giving godawful performances. I havent written a review for a movie on metacritic in years I logged in simply to write this urging you not to waste your money. One of the worst movies I have started tk watch in the last 10 years. Transcendencd is godawfuk as well but ironically the first 20 minutes of that was good.
Expand
2 of 10 users found this helpful28
All this user's reviews
2
KrotosJan 17, 2015
Michael Mann has made some great movies (e.g., Heat, Manhunter). Hopefully, he will make more great movies in the future, and Blackhat will be forgotten, or remembered only as an example of how even talented filmmakers can occasionally turnMichael Mann has made some great movies (e.g., Heat, Manhunter). Hopefully, he will make more great movies in the future, and Blackhat will be forgotten, or remembered only as an example of how even talented filmmakers can occasionally turn out total crud. The plot is ludicrous, the acting is wooden, and Chris Hemsworth is no more believable as a genius hacker than Danny DeVito would be as an NFL quarterback. The "hacking" itself will look ridiculous to anyone with even a modicum of Linux skill or network security know-how. And the last third of the movie takes place in a bizarre superposition of Malaysia and Indonesia where large crowds of locals somehow can't see vicious hand-to hand combat taking place in their midst. Turkey, avoid. Expand
1 of 5 users found this helpful14
All this user's reviews
3
jimmywalterApr 16, 2015
I found the cinematography and timing poor from a technical standpoint - that is that some Scenes would be strange to be there at all and others would hold too Long. As other reviewers said, flat and unattractive with a hard to follow andI found the cinematography and timing poor from a technical standpoint - that is that some Scenes would be strange to be there at all and others would hold too Long. As other reviewers said, flat and unattractive with a hard to follow and from a Computer Technology standpoint yet another impossible hacker tale (no real hacker could get in that easy or fast to the Systems they Claim to penetrate in seconds) Expand
0 of 2 users found this helpful02
All this user's reviews
0
TheSantSantSantSep 26, 2016
This movie was so terrible I regret watching it at all. I feel like I lost part of my life, that I wont ever get back. This movie is full of so much racism I cringed so bad. Why do white people still believe that 1. All asian women areThis movie was so terrible I regret watching it at all. I feel like I lost part of my life, that I wont ever get back. This movie is full of so much racism I cringed so bad. Why do white people still believe that 1. All asian women are attracted to them just because they are white? and 2. Asian men are unattractive, evil and unwanted? I've had enough of the useless propaganda coming out of the US. Chris Hemsworth, you should've known better, because i'm starting to believe that you are really as dumb as you seem in that new Ghostbusters remake. Expand
0 of 4 users found this helpful04
All this user's reviews
1
Voodoo123Mar 3, 2022
Unwatchably dull with a cardboard plotline and poor casting choices. Unless you happen to love extreme close ups of peoples faces with shaky camera and OTT cgi zoom ins of computer hardware of course! The movie failed to connect with me atUnwatchably dull with a cardboard plotline and poor casting choices. Unless you happen to love extreme close ups of peoples faces with shaky camera and OTT cgi zoom ins of computer hardware of course! The movie failed to connect with me at all within the first 20 mins so I just stopped watching. Expand
0 of 0 users found this helpful00
All this user's reviews
3
Spleens120Apr 8, 2021
The scenes with zoomed in circuit boards running flashy lights is prolonged and unnecessary, just like the pacing of the movie and its ridiculous plot. The acting is almost as bad as the writing.
0 of 0 users found this helpful00
All this user's reviews