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.
Blackhat is an action thriller that has a lot going for it, and it isn’t the first time a Michael Mann film deserved a critical re-evaluation.