The deadliest sin a thriller could commit is not engaging the audience — “Blackhat” commits it mercilessly and without remorse. Michael Mann‘s most recent venture is typical January dump month fare with little thrills, little heart, and a lot of foreign pandering which falls flat here in North America.

But what really makes “Blackhat” disappointing is that — if you look into it — you see just a little spark of creativity and uniqueness that can set this movie apart and give it genuine thrills and action.

“Blackhat” features Chris Hemsworth (Thor: The Dark World) as Nicholas Hathaway, a skilled hacker sentenced to prison for using his talents illegally.

After an unknown hacker causes a nuclear power plant disaster in Hong Kong and forces stock exchange numbers up, Chinese military officer Chen Dawai (Leehom Wang) arranges for Hathaway’s release. The pair — supervised by FBI agents Carol Barrett (Viola Davis) and Mark Jessup (Holt McCallany) — sets off to find the hacker responsible, as Hathaway finds himself falling for Chen’s sister, Lien (Tang Wei).

If you examine “Blackhat” closely, you can just barely see the potential for something that would have made for a good popcorn flick. Some of the ideas for the movie’s setting are very commendable; Hong Kong and Jakarta — where most of the plot takes place — are very interesting location choices which could have been used to give “Blackhat” a more unique feel.

This potential really makes itself visible in the third act, where “Blackhat” starts to shape up. You start to get some genuine — albeit sometimes cheap — suspense, the characters finally begin to express personality and emotion, and the compelling villain shows himself, culminating in a climax featuring some excellent cinematography and some serious cultural depth.

Unfortunately, these all come too little, too late. The first two acts of “Blackhat” are as devoid of suspense as the surface of the Sun is devoid of life. There is no feeling of impact to anything in the movie — you don’t care about the characters, you don’t care about the stakes and you don’t care about the final payoff.

The villain’s big plan just feels lackluster and empty. None of the actors seem to make an effort at engaging the audience until the third act, and by then we’re already lost.

Much of the acting feels empty and generic — the only actors who do manage to engage the audience before the third act are Davis and McCallany. The romance between Hathaway and Lien is cheap and sudden, and Hemsworth and Tang completely lack chemistry.

The biggest disappointment here, though, is the movie’s failure to make effective use of the unique settings it could have capitalized on. Hong Kong feels just like Los Angeles, and no honest attempt is made to give the foreign settings a unique vibe.

The inclusion of these settings feel like a half-hearted attempt to appeal to the East Asian market, and the focus on events in East Asia and the Chen siblings back that hypothesis up — Dawai appears before Hathaway does, and is much more of a driving force until the third act. Maybe it would have more impact on an East Asian moviegoer, but it all simply falls flat on this side of the Pacific.

Good thrillers throw you into the plot and make your heart pulse, making you feel what the characters are feeling and wondering where you’ll be going next. “Blackhat” leaves you wondering why you should care.

Good thrillers use unique setups and settings to create their own style. “Blackhat” fails to use the resources it has. If “Blackhat” found the spark inside of it and used it well, it could have been something enjoyable, but instead it comes off as just another mediocre action movie.

Unless you’re a fan of boredom, you should take a firm and forceful pass on “Blackhat.”

“Blackhat” is now playing in theaters with a wide release. It’s 133 minutes long and rated R for violence and some language.

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