It's a challenge to keep up but better late than never, right? What do you make of blackhat in trailer form? It looks like another robust thriller from the (Michael) Mann. The movie is due in mid January and should provide nice counterprogramming to the two diammetrically opposed types of movies that tend to play in that month: studio prestige movies aiming for Oscars vs. mainstream studio dumping ground movies that they know aren't strong enough to compete for holiday or summer dollars.
Let's take a look through our Yes No Maybe So prism. And the first yes is obviously diversity in casting!
• Not one. Not two. But THREE actors of color The Film Experience loves in major roles in a mainstream flick: Leehom Wang and Tang Wei (both from Lust, Caution - Michael Mann's casting director has good taste) and of course the one and only Viola Davis, she of genuine Great Actor Chops and Movie Star Presence (the ideal combo) who we are in major danger of losing full time to TV because Hollywood is super-dumb about anyone, not just women of color, who don't fit into the only kind of actress mold they know what to do with: young, usually blonde, skinny, traditionally beautiful. (Consider the perfect example of this problem: the flurry of big screen interest in Mad Men's January Jones versus the delayed "but what would we use them for?" interest in Christina Hendricks/Elisabeth Moss when that show was dominating TV conversation)
More Yes votes?
• Super slick looking and sometimes uber professionalism and mainstream gloss is the perfect thing to pass 2 hours of time.
• Antony & The Johnsons in a movie trailer? Sold.
• The Color! So much of it. Does any auteur gets shots of cities / events / places / things as consistently well as Michael Mann? The cinematographer on this one is the talented Stuart Dryburgh (The Piano, The Painted Veil) who actually hasn't worked with Mann before.
NO
• Stop pretending Chris Hemsworth is Brad Pitt, Hollywood. NO SALE!
• So let me get this straight: this Nicholas Hathaway person (Chris Hemsworth) is not only a brilliant genius with mad computer geek skillz but he's also a badass convict who is built like Thor, runs super fast, romances hot ladies, and also has major hand-to-hand and firearm combat skills. How many suspension cables are supposed to keep this disbelief at bay?
• There are a lot of "Korean Thug"s in the credits on IMDb. Let's hope this fares better than Lucy in the race relations department.
MAYBE SO
• The opening titles could be mistaken for a thriller variation on Men Women and Children . I know movies have been doing this fear-peddling about modern technology for as long as they've existed but I find it annoying. Especially when movies themselves keep so fully embracing every new technological marvel they can harness to make the movies bigger and bigger.
• Something tells me this will not pass the Bechdel Test. (Is Tang Wei only window dressing as Hemsworth's love interest?)
P.S.
• I love these three shots because...
...our heroes look so vulnerable which amps up the tension and also: partially constructed buildings are so cinematic and Michael Mann gives good cityscapes.
...I fantasized that Viola was part of a big action setpiece which is something we haven't seen her do.
... I fantasized that it was Geena Davis in a cameo as a reporter onscreen.