‘The Takeover’ is a Dutch action-crime film that follows Mel Bandison, an ethical hacker who rushes to prove herself innocent after being framed for murder. It is now streaming on Netflix.
Story
The plot begins with an encounter between Mel Bandison (Holly Mae Brood) and Buddy Benschot (Frank Lammers).
10 years later, Mel has become an ethical hacker who provides final certifications for software. She continues to take down those who hurt the environment on the side.
During a certification test, she finds someone accessing the data unethically. To counter this, she sends out a trojan horse to disrupt the hackers.
This causes a ripple effect that results in mysterious men chasing Mel. She also comes across a video circulating on television that shows him murdering someone.
Thomas Deen (Gaza Weisz), her date, is also embroiled in the entire conspiracy. To help her out of this mess, Mel seeks the help of her old friend Buddy. Will she be able to clear her name?
Performances
Holly Mae Brood gives a decent performance. Even though her character does not have great depth, she brings out the endearing personality of Mel and makes you root for her.
Gaza Weisz and Frank Lammers are the only other actors with enough screen time to make an impression and the two support Brood adequately.
Positives
The entire ‘hackerverse’ concept of The Takeover is extremely engaging. One after another, ethical hackers are introduced and their world is explored.
With a crisp runtime, The Takeover never slacks at any moment. It is fast-paced and intriguing enough to keep you on the edge of your seat.
The equation between Mel and Buddy is handled well. Right from their first interaction, you know this relationship is important.
This does prove true later in the film as he is the only one Mel can turn to for help. Their friendship is one of the highlights of the film.
Negatives
The narrative is extremely simple. No character development is even attempted. While the short runtime helps to keep the film engaging, there is not much to challenge the viewers.
Some plot points and characters aren’t explained well. For example, the culprits aren’t given enough background and the character of Rogers is just thrown at the viewers without enough information to show how dangerous he truly is.
Verdict
The Takedown is quite an engaging film that has no dull moments. However, it never truly achieves the heights that a film based entirely on the world of hackers could.
The Takeover
Director: Annemarie van de Mond
Date Created: 2022-11-01 17:32
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