User reviews

While the acting and dialogue was solid, this rather cliché and moralistic tale may leave some people with a sour taste in their mouth.

It may leave an even worse after-taste when the (totally private) "Federal Reserve" banking system, becomes its own bubble and then bursts, which is something that appears to have been building in the wake of the mortgage-bubble lead financial meltdown. If indeed these predictions are correct, and a worldwide economic collapse of far greater magnitude ensues, the US citizens will probably be told that it was all due to "Russia", "China", and "Hackers operating out of Russia and China...who may be on their respective government's payroll".

I listen to people who actually know what they're talking about and not talking heads with vested interests, so it doesn't take a rocket scientist to smell the faint aroma of economic propaganda (or a "contingency story" for mass consumption), which may become stronger in the years to come if these economic predictions are correct.

Just some food for thought.

However, I digress. On with the review!

Why should I give this film a better-than-average rating when the plot was weak and the main protagonist knew less about protecting their online anonymity than I do? Well, to answer that question I should say that "social engineering" is also considered a valid form of hacking. People are always the weakest point in any system, hence they are the easiest way to bypass security without having to force your way through from behind a computer.

Even with the most sophisticated of proxies and other counter-measures, there is no way to ensure something won't be traced back to you online, just as there is no assurances of remaining unrecognized IRL on a camera, even with a disguise; The latter just happens to be far more efficient, and can often be achieved by using real-life proxies to do your data-collection.

The more real life proxies that are distributing the original data in a non-pyramid/linear, distributed fashion, the less chance of one person being caught as the "ring leader", which is the exact same principle one uses when using an online proxy network. The fact they did funnel information from proxies in bottom up fashion was certainly a major security flaw that would have easily have had them nabbed for credit card fraud under normal circumstances.

If you're into the guts of how people hack from behind a keyboard, then this movie is not for you...but if you want to see a totally different type of hacking at work (predominantly social engineering), you may get something out of this film in spite of its pitfalls.

I saw this movie a few years ago. It was one of my favourites, before I became a software engineer. It's a great story and chain of events that leads to the center piece. A nice journey indeed, but this has nothing to do with hacking. I am giving it a 7 because of nostalgia. The real rating is more like a 5.9

After looking for the movie Algorithm, i found another movie called Algorithm 2. i was surprised that there was a second part and set my expectations high. Later i discovered that it wasn't the second part of Algorithm but a separate movie called Hacker.

Although the big message is the same as in Algorithm, Hacker lacks on minor messages. And it lacks hacking. i think the producer has made the main point clear to me: don't mess with professionals unless u r one. u never know when and where u make a mistake and then they r after u. Playing professionals need years of experiences. If u want to run a marathon and compete with Kenyans and u r not trained then maybe u run the first kilometer and r wasted. Trying to play tennis against a pro as an amateur means not winning a single game — the odds r not with an amateur.

There is another message which is similar to the one of Algorithm but stated differently: If u want to change the world then steal enough currency and create a chaos with it because the one who owns the currency makes the rules. Although the real gangsters behind the currency system can't create new currency anymore they still have power because about ninety percent of world's population accept them as gods. They r dying out slowly and we can wait. Or we can act. But if we act then we can't use their tools because they r better on them. we have to use our own tools.

In the movie, one more point was made clear: weak men can be easily defeated by strong women. Once u start hacking something or someone, be very careful! u r being watched whether u know it or not or whether they know your intention or not. There r cameras everywhere. Every ATM has a camera and the characters in the movie didn't even cover their faces! And they were not discovered. Wasn't at least this suspicious?

The main character alex wants to use a tool that carries negative energy within — payback. Payback is continuation of violence in a violence vortex. If u want to stop violence then u don't pay back but stop it. One is only allowed to use violence while protecting themselves. In the movie, it wasn't about defense.

i don't want to spoil the ending so u can find it out on your own whether it will be left open or finite, whether they all die or not, whether they return to canonical world or go on with creating a better world.

Overall this movie is enjoyable. It is exciting and doesn't assume as much understanding of computer science than Algorithm. The story is linear and easy to follow. Characters r played well. Would i recommend it? As entertainment — yes, as a computer movie — no.

Hacker not is a convencional hacker film, in reality having nothing about programation, but is a good history, is a good film for waste your time, good characters, good desenvelop, and a good plot twist. The actors are really goods, in specially "Lorraine Nicholson" (acting kira), she makes a good job in the character...

I like a good hacker movie. This starts brilliantly - but goes nowhere and flounders around like a, er, flounder in a floundering thing.

As others have said, it's not so much about hacking as about scamming. It's full of very poor research and just plain wrong technical stuff. Sigh.

That there's 'something off' is so obvious but the characters don't twig. Uh oh... Dummies! Oh, and the film summary itself gives half the game away.

Apart from that, the plot just did't hang together.

Writer/director - uh oh....

He tries to bring in a character arc where the protagonist learns the errors of his ways but, heck, it's enforced, not realistic given the character and, well, total dumbbells.

Add a terrible, contrived unrealistic and dumb ending and you've got a so-so movie for people who don't know Windows from door frames - no, strike that - for people who are still looking for the Any Key!

Yup, I'll say it again - Writer/director - uh oh....

I very rarely post review for anything. But when I do, that means this thing is very special.

I'm a programmer. I was looking for a movie about hacking. While this movie is not about hacking at all, I got so caught up that I just watched it entirely.

It takes you for a ride to the lifestyle of doing illegal stuff, and the plot makes it very interesting. It includes ups and downs; not a win-all superhero movie or lose-it-all suckish movie.

In short: exciting, fast paced and full of emotion.

For any real hackers (aspiring hackers, hacktivists, otherwise criminally engaged computer wizards, or simply people in general who know their stuff) it's probably best not to touch this movie... but to people who hardly know anything about the world of hacking, who can enjoy a lower tier "morally justified" heist movie, it might work pretty well.

That said, the plot is dull. Really dull. Perhaps not so much the plot itself, but rather the execution of it. It's pretty obvious (from the narration, the cast) that this movie was meant to piggyback on the hype-train of Mr. Robot. Whereas Mr. Robot actually goes into detail pretty accurately, there's hardly ANY hacking going on in this movie at all. It's just a bunch of scammer kids, with a very infantile approach to the hacking phenomenon. A mash-up of jargon, combined with really poor dialogues and acting skills in general. A "hacker" that isn't familiar with the Dark Web or Onion? I mean, really?

Apart from that, it has a nice pace with just enough going on, to maintain a certain entertainment value that made me watch it through to the end. I'm glad that I did, 'cause it has a nice twist at the end... albeit pretty far fetched.

It's rare to find a film, as unheard of and made for such a low budget as 'Hacker' was, be made with such a high degree of quality. From the opening moments it was clear this movie was going to be told with a lot of class. I suppose a film subject like hacking really wouldn't seem right told any other way. Still, that doesn't make it any easier to achieve.

The thing that probably surprised me the most about the film was how good the acting was. Callan McAuliffe in particular in the lead role was an absolute delight to watch go about his craft. A reasonable amount of the film was narrated by him too and not since Morgan Freeman in 'The Shawshank Redemption' can I remember such an ideal voice for such a thing. Daniel Eric Gold also thoroughly impressed me and I think it's fair to say there wasn't a weak link in the entire cast.

'Hacker' was a really fun watch. The pacing is terrific. It glides effortlessly from scene to scene and there is always plenty going on to keep the viewer entertained. The story structuring was also very well handled and the film ended in a very clever and interesting way. Altogether I was very impressed by 'Hacker' and would thoroughly recommend people to check it out.

Most Canadians speak with a distinctively American Accent, as opposed to British. Some Provinces do compare with a few Norther States of the US, but it is still a decidedly common way of speaking. Additionally, 'College' is common colloquial American for any study beyond High School, including University. The US has a diversity of dialects, North to South and East to West.

Summary: the goofs based on not sounding Canadian are in themselves goofs.

I decided to watch this movie with some friends after looking for a hacker/crime thriller movie, something like Mr. Robot but a feature-length film. As a student at a programming course, I can say that the movie's portrayal of hackers is abysmal to say the least. Google-ing the term "dark web" for real? A "dark web" evil authoritarian mobster crimelord? It just looks like they didn't even try or think the audience wouldn't notice....which is what I hate most about movies: insulting the viewer's intelligence.

The beginning was the only fine part about the whole thing, at least it made me care a little about the protagonist, even if it meant getting bored 2 scenes later. The acting is pretty rough and feels plastic and cheap, but it's actually better than in movies with a higher production value. One of the most annoying parts about the whole movie is that it feels like an amateur film or some documentary about hackers you would be presented at school. Nothing is realistic, there is no sense of mystery or tension, the characters basically exist to convey the message that crime and hacking bad, you can't get rich quick etc...I can't even tell you to watch it as a so-bad-that-it's-good or drunk-with-friends movie, as the only part where we burst out laughing was when the main evil Zed guy was revealed to be a burned(?) man in a wheelchair with a fake accent. You can even see the actor controlling his laughter at some points ,it's honestly hilarious. I don't even know what happened to his face, the makeup is so horrendous it's not even complete around his ears and neck....you just can't take it seriously.

And his motivations? At the beginning he looks like he wants to overthrow the system and conduct a revolution ,but later in the film he looks more like a mobster that wants to make money through stocks and nothing else. There are several character inconsistencies as well, such as him being an extra careful and prudent know-it-all puppetmaster early on to completely risking all of his efforts by sending the money earlier to the protagonist towards the end ,without any actual reason than to advance the plot and get him arrested. Notice that I put quotation marks in the title. It wasn't by accident. This movie probably has 10% of Hollywood Hacking in it, nothing more. The closest thing it resembles is a crime / robbery thriller, although I would be insulting those genres by classifying it as such.

I could be talking waaay more about it, but honestly I just want to forget wasting my buddies time (and mine) with this movie. Long story short, stay away from it, want a true hacker show? Go with Mr. Robot. Want a good crime/robbery thriller? Go with Good Time, The Departed, Goodfellas, there are so many choices better than this steaming pile of bull.

The production and story was good for a $2,000,000 film.

As others have mentioned, the ending was a little odd, bit oh well.

Except if you like seeing cities and some lavish spending spree. its complete waste of time.

big time amateur film making. The narration is bad. events are totally flawed. they would go live in presidential suite but take a cheap cab on way from airport? covers up operations so well but give it away for prison cell at small cyber cafe?

hacker is always critical in thinking.. how did he even miss looking into the uncle?

This is an astonishingly bad film. The acting is adequate but somewhat two dimensional while the characterisations and scripting are stupidly caricature-like.

When they talk about visiting a website called The Dark Web as though they are using the actual dark web (peer to peer technology) is when I really gave up. They even refer to someone as The Head of the Dark Web! Basically this film is nothing but propaganda and disinformation and is clearly against privacy laws and anonymity. It is exactly the opposite of what one would expect from a film with this title if it had been made by people with an interest in telling a story that has some basis in reality. It is cartoon-ish to say the very least.

Although my life was not the same with the situation in the movie "Hacker". I learned a lot. The Future or your destiny is unpredictable. You wouldn't know what road you'll be in. The feelings I felt when I watched the movie, it tells me that you own your life, it may change the situation(could be easy or hard) but not you, it will always remain you. Sometimes the road you took may tells you and everyone of who you really are. Temptation is everywhere, I realize also that its not really a sin, it will only be called sin if you fall for it and took it. With the desire for the material things and revenge to somebody, sometimes, it make us blind and took those temptations around us and then noticing at the very end the mistakes. trying to correct the past that is impossible to do but will serve as lesson to move on and start a new one. I regret I haven't seen this movie last year, I believe it was not released to all cinemas in my country, especially in my area. I would say this movie is awesome. Nice plot with awesome cast.

I cannot recommend this movie. There are not any interesting characters, moments or insights. It seemed as if the directors didn't know how to use google to research even the most basic information about hackers. The use of narration throughout the film felt like I was watching an educational film in P.E. at high school. I cringed during this movie more than i did watching Adam Sandler's 'click' and 'big daddy' combined. Please don't waste your time with this movie. I can recommend the book "We Are Anonymous: Inside the Hacker World of LulzSec" on this topic.

Best Regards, H4X0R

TLDR: this movie gave me cancer.

aha huh this movie is awesome not bored.. i don't NOW why so many are writing bad about movie i watched completely even i read review but movie is very wonderful and good teen and hacker movie better than some movies rating is good i give 9 .. thank you it is my first review to write about movie .. because some one said very bad but movie is wonderful ,,, thanks a lot .. it is good movie don't waste Ur time to read reviews u must watch right now. there is crime and good drama . story narrating is wonderful . ending is awesome. last 10 mints i remember again catch me if can movie. must watchable. length is good.when is changing lastly awesome to watch

Unbelievably, I made it all the way through this miserable movie. Half way through I literally googled it to see if it were written by a child. I wouldn't even recommend this movie for a rainy day with nothing else on TV. Just turn your TV off and stare at the blank screen for two hours, instead of watching this movie. You'll thank me.

This movie is just bad for a hacker movie.

There is no actual hacking in it. Not even script kiddie style things.

Acting is bad and without a plot, the movie just cannot touch you in any moment and just feels uninteresting.

If you ask me, you can't make a movie called "Hacker" when the closest think to hacking is a hacker social media site.