Chris Hemsworth is one of the most iconic actors in modern Hollywood, and while his role as Marvel’s Thor is how he’s cemented in most people’s heads, he has a ton of characters who don’t wield Mjolnir. Whether it be as a spy in “Men in Black: International” or appearing on the side in the “Ghostbusters” reboot, many of Hemsworth’s appearances may have flown under your radar.
One such role was in the 2015 hacker thriller “Blackhat,” where Chris played Nick Hathaway, a former felon and professional hacker who’s serving time for stealing millions of dollars. As the creator of part of the code repurposed as a virus by a mysterious group to target a nuclear power plant in Hong Kong, the FBI asks for Hathaway’s help in finding the culprit, with the allure of getting him discharged from prison if he succeeds. Certainly not an innovative idea, but a very tried-and-true one in hacker thrillers. What starts as Hemsworth’s character merely providing his technological expertise to the government escalates quickly as the stakes get higher, reaching a level where he’s at the forefront of international politics.
“Blackhat” probably isn’t the movie that will fundamentally change how you view the world and leave you pondering what you just watched. If, however, you want a hacker flick that features surprisingly realistic action, decent romance (with Tang Wei as the female lead), and hacking that doesn’t feel exaggerated and actually makes sense, you can find “Blackhat” streaming on Prime Video.
Chris Hemsworth is a hacker in Blackhat
On release, the movie was met with subpar reactions. It bombed at the box officemaking only $4.4 million on opening weekend despite a $70 million budget, according to Deadline. The general reception to the movie was mostly negative. A large part of this was due to the casting, with some fans thinking Chris wasn’t a great choice for a hacker spending most of his time in front of a computer. This wasn’t due to Hemsworth’s acting, though — his performance throughout was spectacular. Instead, fans found it hard to believe that a cybercrime expert would have the athleticism and toned body that Chris had in the movie, something that Nick Hathaway attributes to his working out during most of his time in prison.
There were a couple of other reasons the movie wasn’t a huge hit as well. Fans went into it expecting something more like Mann’s other masterpieces — such as “Collateral” or “Heat” — not a relatively straightforward thriller. The pacing didn’t help either, as the first half of the movie takes its time introducing the stakes and only speeds up after the first hour passes.
The movie’s bad reception on release was partly due to the criticisms, but mostly due to a lack of proper marketing. “Blackhat” still is one of Chris Hemsworth’s best movies, featuring “Ferrari” director Michael Mann and a cast that includes Viola Davis, Tang Wei, and Wang Leehom. The movie is not his only box office bomb from 2015 that’s making a comeback; you can see Chris Hemsworth fighting a whale in “The Heart of the Sea” on Netflix. But if you’re looking for a movie that deals with realistic cybercrime, “Blackhat” is one of the better ones.
