Chris Hemsworth has appeared in 25 movies since making his big screen debut in the opening scene of J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek as George Kirk, and he’s been playing the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Thor in 32% of them. Next year’s Love and Thunder will mark his ninth time wielding the hammer, but for the most part, his ventures outside of his superhero comfort zone have been very hit or miss.
Snow White and the Hunstman was a decent-sized box office success, but the sequel bombed horribly, while the actor has also had the misfortune of taking top billing in several notable flops including In the Heart of the Sea, Men in Black: International and Michael Mann’s techno thriller Blackhat, which couldn’t even muster a haul of $20 million during its theatrical run.
However, the latter has been finding a surprising new lease of life on Netflix, where it’s been one of the most popular titles on the platform for the last several days, holding its position in the global Top 10 most-watched list. Of course, Mann is a solid director with a string of acclaimed hits under his belt including The Last of the Mohicans, Heat and Collateral, but Blackhat can comfortably be named as his worst feature-length effort.
There’s potential in the premise about an imprisoned hacker being freed by the government to take down an even more dangerous cabal of cyber terrorists, but the entire movie is just so painfully dull that it’s hard to get invested. Regardless, sinking at the box office without a trace and being widely panned by critics has done nothing to deter Netflix subscribers, with Blackhat the latest in a long line of forgotten films to experience a resurgence on the world’s most popular streamer.