This dreadfully derivative thriller borrows elements of ‘The Net’ and ‘Wall Street’ and almost everything inbetween. A wannabe tech hotshot (Liam Hemsworth), seduced by fame and fortune, is roped into an espionage battle between rival corporate Goliaths (Gary Oldman and Harrison Ford). The disillusionment that follows his Faustian bargain comes quickly, though not before the hunk can successfully woo a beauty (Amber Heard) and exude more repugnant smugness than a dozen likeminded social climbers.
The atmosphere should be sexy and sinister, but director Robert Luketic (‘Legally Blonde’) makes every action scene look as dreary as possible, and even the reunion of the two ‘Air Force One’ veterans, Oldman and Ford, results in pedestrian showdowns instead of clash-of-the-titans grandeur. The fact that Hemsworth severely lacks leading-man charisma doesn’t help. The film fixates on the perils and panic of modern surveillance culture while itself proving to be borderline unwatchable.