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Black Hat (2015)
freshly out on video by now
I saw it on my FIOS on-demand connection on a 32-inch Samsung LCD 1080p TV.
Dir: Michael Mann
starring:
chris Hemsworth
Leehom Wang
Wei Tang
Viola Davis
premise:
Nick Hathaway, a talented computer code writer/hacker, MIT educated, has allowed his life to go south and is serving time in a high security federal lockup. Then he finds a way out of a 15 year prison sentence when parts of a computer code he once wrote during his youth appears in malware used in a terrorist attack on a Nuclear facility in China. The malware destroys coolant pumps in the main reactor, causing loss of life at the plant and an abrupt shutdown.
At the same time an identical malware attack was carried out on a nuclear facility in the United States. But that attack fails because the malware doesn't get the access it needs to the vital systems in control of those coolant pumps.
Chinese and FBI get in touch. Decide to work together to hunt down the source of these attacks. Chinese military sends Chen Dawai, a former classmate of Nick's at MIT. Chen is also highly trained in computer software engineering. After viewing the code used in the US attack, Chen recognizes it as the same code used in the China attack. And he also knows who wrote the code....his old classmate and buddy Nick. But Nick couldn't have had anything to do with these attacks since he was in prison and without access to any devices that would allow him to do any system hacking.
Chen asks for Nick to be released from prison to assist in this case. US Govt. reluctantly complies. Two FBI operatives accompany Nick, Chen, and Chen's sister during the investigation.
The chase takes Nick, Chen and the FBI from US soil to Hong Kong and to Jakarta.
That's the setup.
My thoughts:
At the outset there is interesting CGI as a signal is animated to flow out of the cpu of one computer, through a network and into the cpu of the target computer, then flow into the nuke reactor and finally we get to see the pump impellers speed up beyond their recommended limits and then explode. This triggers a partial meltdown of the reactor. That drew me in. I just wish there had been more of it.
Once the Nuke plant is disabled the movie takes the pace and shape of a crime investigation procedural. Methodical. Moving further and as the movie unfolds and the investigation begins to turn up solid leads it turns into an spy thriller as our team closes in. Foreign locations. Much danger. Loss of life. Many many bullets fly from automatic weapons. A shoulder fired weapon blows up a car. Sophisticated anti personnel explosives take out soldiers in graphic detail.
Oh, and lets not forget the love interest between Nick and Chen's sister...who is a very attractive and available Chinese girl. For some odd reason, she falls for Nick the convict. Actually, she commences it.
Improbabilities:
Nick Hathaway isn't your average brilliant computer engineer/hacker/felon-convict. He displays the close combat hand-to-hand fighting abilities of a highly trained special forces soldier. Yet, there is no mention of such a background during this movie. It just is. And it becomes necessary as the plot resolves around Nick's abilities to defeat his adversaries in hand to hand with knives and guns. Oh, yeah, and he's good in a fire fight.
If the movie falls down anywhere for me, this is it. In real life software engineers tend not to be highly skilled ninja killers.
Will Nick and Chen Lien escape the reaches of the terrorists, the Chinese military and the FBI, to live a desperate but happy life out on the lamb...... or will Nick go back to prison? I'm not telling.
If I overlook the one serious improbability mentioned above, I liked the pace and drama of the film. The movie kept my short attention span on the screen with new events constantly unfolding in an interesting way.
Lots of scenes with our heroic nerds tapping away at keyboards while hacking their way into highly protected networks. That part was kinda fun.
How do I rate this film: I'm feeling generous. I give it 3 out of 5 stars.
-Steve
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Topic - Black Hat - user510 10:49:15 05/30/15 (2)
- 3 outta 5 gives them a Knighthood . . . - Billy Wonka 13:32:18 05/30/15 (1)
- you're a tough reviewer..... - user510 14:56:33 05/30/15 (0)
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