Top critical review
3.0 out of 5 starsRent it but Beware
Reviewed in the United States on June 25, 2021
I'm not going to give too much away of the story in this review as I don't want to spoil the story for anybody so here are some thoughts about the movie.
This movie is not perfect but it makes a good rental so go see it but read below so you know what you're getting into.
I love watching movies like War Games, Hackers, and basically most movies that involve network systems and hacking, so when I found out about this movie I was curious.
I like that Chris Hemsworth and I'm glad he took a break from being Thor to play in a hacker movie and in the real world he was given a few classes in Cyber Security to help him prepare for this film. Cool.
Part of the movie takes place in Hong Kong, which is another plus.
However some things to keep in mind/beware of...
1. It's a Michael Mann film. That should give you an idea of what to expect, for better or worse.
2. Chris is a convicted hacker who gets released to solve a crime that is the focus of the film. As a convicted hacker he tends to get into lots of gun fights.
I wanted to see more investigating and nerdiness, although it does have its' fair share of hacking and stuff. However, near the end of the film when he improvises weapons and armor for a big fight it was cool because it looked like something he could have learned in prison.
3. The interaction between Chris and his Chinese counterparts looks like acting. He's suppose to be old friends with his Chinese Counterpart Leehom Wang and his sister Tang Wei but it comes across as acting and not genuine chemistry, especially the "romance" that develops later.
4. Parts of this movie use real world hacking methods and terminology but also mixes in real world coding with let's call fake stuff. I won't give details because I don't want to spoil those scenes.