The controversial casting of Hemwsorth is actually the thematic point and ethos of the whole film, and justified right from the first couple of scenes. Mann's characters have always been romanticized and idealized archetypes. He is shown as a character above conformity and false dichotomies, training both his body and his mind while in his cell. No doubt he has read Yukio Mishima's Sun & Steel, which angry fat Sup Forums neckbeards have never heard about. It's also funny that people spouting this criticism never address that Sadak fits the negative hacker stereotypes, and this is what ultimately makes him lose. he has hubris and is self-agrandizing, but it's about how hes come to see himself behind a computer screen, an online God, then gets caught back by reality: he dies a pathetic death, he is nothing in the real world but a fleeting shadow in the middle of an indifferent crowd, one screwdriver is enough to end him. Its similar to how Vincent dies in Collateral: build up throughout the whole film as an invincible hitman who has everything figured out but dies indifferently on a subway as the city slowly wakes up. Hathaway "wins" because hes still connected to the real world, through his love and passion with Tang Wei, though all the self-reflection and meditation he went through in prison, through his anger and grief. The chaotic brutal nature of the action scenes mixed with the ethereal sensuality of the digital photo reflect that.
It's pure Mann. Thematically it goes back to his early films, like Thief (characters: the dinner scene & protagonist marked by his jail time, theme: the crime stays the same, only the tools change) and Manhunter (procedural investigation, lawful side needing the help of a jailed criminal to arrest a similar criminal)
His whole archetype (warrior-poet, body & mind) is introduced intuitively: 1. you see him in his cell reading philosophy books 2. you see him act like a smartass to the prison director, which gets him thrown into the hole 3. you see him workout. He has nothing but time ahead of him and the traditional Mannian sense of discipline. "I do my time, the time doesn't do me", very similar to Caan in Thief. This is the same dedication to a code that you find in characters like Vincent or McCauley. But his flaw is his defiance of authority and arrogance, which is the reason he got caught in the first place. The Asian girl even mocks his dedication to his code in the restaurant conversation, "you still speak like you're in prison", but this is what saves her life during the fight and is what makes her drop her panties.
The fact that Chris Hemsworth is handsome and doesn't look like the stereotypical acne hacker doesn't matter in the slightest. Bank robbers and hitmen don't look like Cruise or DeNiro with their perfect fashion tastes. Mann's world is romanticized and idealized.
Hathaway is a complete man, like a Greek hoplite. His enemies however reflect the false dichotomy of the body and mind. The villain hacker is stereotypical, unfit, neckbearded, glasses, king in the virtual world but out of touch with the real world. He has to hire a mercenary to be his body, who is fierce and methodical but lacks brain and ability to adapt. In the end Hathaway adapts to his environment and disposes of both, by literally walking "against" the crowd, against the norm and false conventions. All of this is told mostly visually.
Mann's use of digital cinematography is particularly relevant, one of the rare instances where a film being shot on digital rather than on film makes thematic sense and contributes to the film's discourse. A digital film about the clash between the digital and the carnal worlds, feeling more organic and alive than films shot on film.
Cooper Rodriguez
In Heat, Neil dies because he decides to change his ways
In Collateral, Vincent dies because he doesn't (trying to do mozambique drill out of habit despite being behind train doors whereas Foxx randomly fires the gun and hit him out of sheer luck)
This theme is explored again in Blackhat. Hathaway survives by adapting himself to his environment and improvising makeshift armor and weapon.
Gabriel Evans
The melancholic desire to escape is of course another main running theme in his films, and another way of showing his characters don't belong in a world of conformity.
There's a transcendent, almost metaphysical quality to water in his films, like the characters are longing for a purity and freedom they could never find on land. It's both calming and worrying, as if they're contemplating their own inevitable doom and are at peace with it. Even in a 100% urban film like Collateral, Max relaxes by thinking of the sea, it's what drives him forward.
Hathaway starts the film alone and in prison. In the end, he finally reaches the airport and escapes, but only because he found a sensual connection along the way. This also mirrors Neil reaching the airport for his escape with his girl, but the fate is reversed.
Robert Clark
Where do you think you are, Reddit? You have to go back and take your tl;dr "review" back with you.
Xavier Allen
tl;dr?
Joseph Green
tl;dr blackhat is honest kino
Alexander Baker
You're two years late you dumb pleb
Wyatt James
...
Isaiah Garcia
mann is a hack who is still making the same movie from the 80s, this time with chinese money. sage
Dylan Smith
Well first of all Chris couldn't act his way out of a game of charades
And Mann's romanticized and idealized world is fucking lame in this movie
Your entire review is Mann circle jerk (in more ways than one) instead of looking at the film on it's own
I turned it off in the first 30 minutes because it was hammy and lame
How does it feel to love a plebian B level action movie?
bonus points >almost metaphysical quality to water in his films
lol this is fucking too much. By definition the metaphysical is entirely abstract and has no base in reality. >but it FEELS so deep!
YOU NEED TO GO BACK
Owen Collins
TL;DR, The thread.
Liam Garcia
Underrated film
Alexander Baker
>Well first of all Chris couldn't act his way out of a game of charades
Fuckin lost. Hahaha
Thomas Sanchez
Stephen Watt, the hacker Hemsworth's character is based on, looks very much like him. It's just that when people think of hackers they never picture someone like him
Lincoln Anderson
t. neckbeard memer
Levi Carter
Regardless if Hemsworth can or can't act, Mann's films don't strictly speaking require it the way they're presented.
Look at Collateral, Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx, neither of which can act but the latter at least gave a career-making performance in Ray, but through sheer force of dialogue and character Cruise has the better part in Vincent.
Mann directs characters, not actors.
Liam Martin
Literally a b-movie
I honestly can't believe anyone actually enjoyed that
Charles Anderson
not sure you know what a b movie is, user
Jayden Wright
I watched this today, after Thief and Heat.
I appreciate this review. Thank you.
Jack Allen
When is the director's cut going to come out, fuck? I've been waiting for it to finally see this, it looks so good.
Jordan Barnes
It felt cheap, with laughably bad acting and filled with stupid cliches. It's a b-movie.
Connor Perez
Everyone patrician here talking about it when it came out knew this Mann is still at the top of his game
Easton Nguyen
Well memed, my dudel
John Walker
literally hackers on steroids
Landon Mitchell
*Tip fedora*
Easton Phillips
People legitimately do not come here for film discussion. You're wasting your time.
Luis Moore
Deal with it, redditors.
Jonathan Rivera
Thnaks, user.
Wyatt Roberts
Vulgar auteurs will write any of the films glaring flaws as some sort of deep metacommentary on nature of "digital cinema" and something post-modern.
It's impossible to argue with them
Liam Collins
Please for the love of god explain to me how Noah is kino
Isaiah Cox
WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING
DO NOT WATCH THIS FILM. YOU ARE ABOUT TO GET MEMED. IT IS ABSOLUTE GARBAGE BUT IDIOTS HERE PUSH IT BEING GOOD SO THAT THEY CAN LAUGH AT YOU.
Wyatt Jones
spotted the pleb
Grayson Parker
Literally actually bigger than Hemsworth is in the film.
My sides
Oliver Smith
Excellent cinematography, outstanding soundtrack, fresh take on a a classic story.
Some of the subpar (female) performances drag it down, but overall it is kino.
Leo Anderson
I dropped it in the first 5 minutes with the electrons moving through the system being hacked, it was fucking lame
Zachary Gonzalez
>am I fitting in yet guise? xD
Nathaniel Gonzalez
it's just a cheap white male power fantasy
the wmaf fuckery is insulting too
Luis Hill
>buttmad AMWF poster As a white man with yellow fever, I exclusively date Asian girls, so I'm really happy that Michael Mann has been pushing White Male/Asian Female racemixing so much in his movies lately. When you think about it, it makes a lot of sense that Mann himself has yellow fever because his films have always had an Asian influence, in both style (zen, meditative pacing) and substance (ronin-like characters with focus, honor and discipline). There's no doubt in my mind that Mann is the heir to JP Melville, who was already mixing Hagakure and Buddhism into traditional American noir.
In a way, I am just like Hathaway from Blackhat: successful with Asian girls, smart, strong, with a wicked sense of humour and contempt for authority.
Nathaniel Barnes
>shitting on a movie you didn't finish watching
Why even bother posting your utterly useless opinion?
Jackson Baker
ignore this retard. i come here for varied skewed insights about film, among other reasons
Liam Hernandez
>proud to be the bottom barrel shittiest interracial pairing
lol I'm sure your pseudo-pedophilia hooking up with flat small unintelligible asian girls is laughed at by everyone. enjoy your inevitable insane Elliot and Mayli children when the time comes. we all know your just a white loser nerd who found some self hating asian girl to prop up your ego. one look is all it takes hahahah.
Isaac Turner
Reminder that both Elliot and Mayli are results of JMAF and not WMAF
Liam Nelson
>shitty mspaint >implying that isn't the standard for wmaf children
lol every white you see with an asian girl is always a bottom barrel beta
