Swordfish
A covert counter-terrorist unit called Black Cell led by Gabriel Shear wants the money to help finance their war against international terrorism, but it's all locked away. Gabriel brings in convicted hacker Stanley Jobson to help him.
Richard reviewed
November 6, 2025•
Ah, Swordfish. The film that dared to ask: “What if hacking looked like a nightclub, sounded like a trance mix, and felt like a Bond audition?”
I saw this one on the big screen back when Hugh Jackman was still fresh faced from X-Men, and John Travolta was deep into his post Pulp Fiction villain era, complete with goatee, leather and philosophical rants about Hollywood cowardice.
The plot? A covert counter terrorist unit wants to fund its war on global threats by stealing billions through a hacker for hire.
Enter Stanley Jobson, played by Jackman, who’s lured in with promises of redemption, cash and Halle Berry’s Ginger, whose role is mostly remembered for that one sexy scene, not her dialogue.
Sure, the CGI hasn’t aged well, and the script is more sleaze than substance. But Swordfish isn’t trying to be timeless, it’s trying to be cool.
And in its own excessive, techno thriller way, it succeeds.