My 'Blackhat' review…..Like I have said, Mann is my favorite director, so I may be less then objective here….I loved 'Blackhat'. It is an absolutely beautifully filmed movie, the colors and the scenery are as much a character as anyone in the movie, Mann has few peers in terms of capturing the beauty and life of a landscape, from Los Angeles to China, and Indonesia. It is a Michael Mann movie through and through, and as one other critic said it plays a bit like a 'Mann Greatest Hits', so you have lines like 'I'm doing the time…time isn't doing me', and heartfelt, emotive conversations in dimly lit restaurants, brooding, existential criminals who stare at the ocean, pondering their fate and their role, breathless, hushed romances, characterized by the grasping of a hand, or a touch held just long enough, the weight of conscience, loyalty, and love, on a backdrop of brilliantly shot running gunfights, where automatic weapons threaten to cut away any humanity the characters strive for…..The movie echoes 'Miami Vice' most of all, with shades of 'Public Enemies' and 'Heat' at times….brutal violence against a stunning landscape of beauty, and technology.
Yes, there are unlikely elements of plot, yes there are lines in the script that aren't great..Yes, Hemsworth Hathaway's accent falters a few times, and comes across as less a hacker, but of a hybrid of all Mann's previous protagonists, no i did not really need the exposition shots wires and cords, tracing a computer signal through the labyrinth….These things don't matter. It's a movie of depth, and feeling, and real emotion. I could watch this again today, and be just as entertained as last night. I plan on seeing it again in the theater next week, honestly. I obviously see why a movie like 'American Sniper' is praised and publicized, and this goes widely unnoticed…..this is easily the stronger picture, and it is disconcerting how people would prefer 'American Sniper', in it's mundane execution and clumsy grasps at the kind of heart this movie has.
See 'Blackhat', even if you don't love it, it is interesting, compelling, thoughtful and one of a kind filmmaking on display.
On Mann's progression and style as a filmmaker since the 90's, Mann has found the kind of sleek, beautiful tone for his movies, that isn't as deep as 'Heat', but has a kind of detached, dark appeal that no one else can really come close to.….I loved 'Collateral, 'Miami Vice', I really like 'Public Enemies', so I know I am up against a lot of opposition here. But, I will say I don't know how you could LOVE 'Thief', & 'Heat' and strongly dislike his later work, as they are incredibly similar in all regards….Down to the shots, the dialogue, the themes…..De Niro in 'Heat' is spitting the same lines as Colin Farrell in 'Miami Vice', the unrequited loves….I don't get that aspect of Michael Mann critics.
miami vice could have been awesome if he used traditional film cameras... the handheld shyt makes it look like a low budget documentary... ever since collateral... i swear....
