Anyone else looking forward to Michael Mann's next film, Blackhat? I haven't seen the trailers yet, I think it's about some cybercrime network.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qn2g9qGbH_k
What do you think of the casting? Thor behind a keyboard, or a good break from the neckbeard stereotype?
Michael Mann is usually a pretty solid director and can meld politics, drama and thriller/action elements. He made modern classic films like The Insider and Heat as well as innovative thrillers like Collateral. It'll be interesting to see what he does with this, if it will be more than the usual cyber-thriller.
I saw a review that said that the only thing positive about it was that it was "A movie". Thought, that might not have been the most reliable reviewer. what I have seen from the trailer does not look good. It seems like a typical Hollywood action move where the main protagonist a "hacker" spends more time shooting shit than running executables or coding shit.
As yo can see I am not very exited about Blackhat
However I am going to see it ... and I hope that I am wrong.
Mission Impossible was a great film, had quite a bit of hacking and technobabble, but it did it relatively well for the most part* and in a non-cliche way. The train/modem scene was good as well.
I think that it really wouldn't be that hard to make a good hacking movie. Obviously if you get too in depth with technical stuff you're going to alienate people, but I think if you focus more on the interesting ways that things can be exploited and manipulated and the social engineering stuff then you could make a really good 'cyber heist' movie.
ok, I watched another film in the cinema and they showed the Blackhat trailer... Looked pretty cool, visually at least and Michael Mann knows how to shoot a thriller.
I don't expect it to be a hardcore hacking film focused on the technology, but i'm definitely watching this in theatre.
"We need a blackhat hacker named Hathaway..." The trailers, look awful. I'd put money on it being another cliched "hacker" movie. By which I mean that most of the computer related sequences will make absolutely no sense. It might be a solid action/thriller (though, judging by the trailer, it may not be), but I wouldn't hold out hope for anything remotely realistic in terms of "hacking" or even general computer use... not that any movie has really ever gotten stuff like that right (except in small doses), but still.
As far as Mann goes, his films have gone down hill since Heat. The Insider was decent, Ali was ok I guess, same goes for Collateral, but Miami Vice? Public Enemies? Bleh. Something tells me Blackhat will be closer to Miami Vice than it will be to Last of the Mohicans in terms of quality film making.
I finally watched Blackhat. Don't let the trailers fool you. It's solid and a good edition to tech film culture imo.
It could have very easily been just another cliche hollywood cybercrime film with 2 minutes of jumbled computer lingo and just car chases and explosions... It isn't. It takes the hacking part seriously; How it's done*, the ethics of it, the choices involved, and it weaves it into a pretty badass thriller. I jumped out of my seat in one scene and even the action is done well.
Also, the film is shot beautifully even though it is incredibly digital in the way it looks. It's just cool in that Michael Mann way. It takes time to get used to it, but in a few minutes you're sucked in. Worth seeing on the big screen. If you end up watching it at home, wear decent headphones/use proper speakers.
The best thing in the film is that the tech people aren't cartoons, they are multi-demnetional characters. Not only did I forget that I was watching the guy who played Thor, but all of the other tech people in the film are portrayed as strong characters in that Michael Mann pros-have-backbone manner. You don't see this in comic book movies.
Many "critics" hate this film in a visceral way that shows how out-of-touch they are. They're used to seeing tech people as cliche socially awkward meek types. The Lemmings on Rotten Tomatoes have it at 31% at the moment, but they're haters unless something fits in the box that Hollywood has trained them to put things in.
Ok, it's not Heat (what is?), but it is Michael Mann on good form imo and his digital style suits this story in a very good way. Watch it and make up your own mind. Would love to hear your thoughts even if you don't like it.
* The human element, phishing, portrayal of linux, windows & android systems. cool server rooms, etc...
I must admit, if someone from our forums thinks it's a good movie then I might just watch it. Does it borrow plot elements from Kevin Mitnick's wonderful shenanigans? You mentioned something about the human element, it would be interesting to see someone take a shot at portraying a social engineer. IMO Kevin wasn't as good with computers as people thought he was (although he was still better than your average person), that's why he was caught. He just used social engineering to bypass the most secure systems.
Haven't seen the move in its entirety but I work at a movie theater and walked in on it during one of my breaks. It has those pretty laughable "trace" scenes. You know those "water moving quickly through a pipe" scenes in movies where you're watching it in First Person from the water's perspective. Only it's not water in a pipe, it's random beeping sounds and electrical noises traveling through motherboards and networks. Looked very silly.
I get free daily movies (perk I never use because most nationwide releases are crap) and I probably still won't watch it.
