OTHER TITLES: TRACK DOWN (USA DVD title); OPERATION TAKEDOWN, HACKERS 2: TAKEDOWN (alternate titles outside of the USA); A rendszer ellensége (Hungarian for ENEMY OF THE SYSTEM); THE HACKER (Japanese title); Nebezpečný kód (Czech title for RENEGADE RUNNING); Взлом (Russian for BREAKING FREE)
Here is yet another film whose release was delayed for years after it filmed, mainly because of a lawsuit filed by the subject of the story. I am not sure how the suit unfolded or what lead to the film finally being released to DVD 5 years after it filmed, but I can't lie when I say I was happy about it.
TAKEDOWN is the intense chase-thriller about Kevin Mitnick, a hacker who was pursued by the FBI for 2 years before being apprehended. No doubt many Mitnick supporters called this film "lousy" "sucky" "biased" and other unflattering adjectives because it was based on the book written by a NY Times reporter who, his crtics say, was hungry for fame, and the hardware specialist whose security program Mitnick allegedly tried to steal.
In terms of its entertainment value, TAKEDOWN is a great film. Unless you are one who sides passionately with Mitnick, and his opinions, and hate his opponents, for whatever reason, you will no doubt enjoy this as one of millions of good crime dramas.
And Mitnick does have his supporters. The ongoing controversy about whether or not pixelated government information should be available to be scrutinized by, monitored by, and shared with the eyes of "average, everyday citizens" is in its early stages when this story begins, sometime in 1991. The internet has been around a long time. I was not even aware of its existence until 1994 or 1995, but it had been there for years prior. Mainly for the government's use.
First, a little bit of background about the story and its motives, which no doubt will include my unimportant whatsoever opinions...
From a clump of "average, everyday people" came a group of computer-capables that came to be known as "hackers". Some members of this group believe that the government is "Big Brother" and that "priveledged information" equals "power", and if the corrupt old fogeys of corporate America can have access to power and ability, so should the Average Joe. Those who don't agree with Mitnick liken the hacker ethic to "communism", saying that these young people think everything ought to be a free-for-all. Which is, in essence, to say, "We're the Government, we're "The Man" and we are the only ones with the right to have 'priveledged, powerful information'."
Other "Right-To-Know" opponents would go as far as to say that there is a paranoia in the belief that Big Corporate America is hiding lots of sordid secrets and conspiracies against the Little Guy.
I have no business trying to explore the debate and venture an opinion about whether I believe in conspiracy theories or not, or whether or not I believe hackers are a paranoid, underground subculture whose tagline is, "I'm gonna get you before you get me, Big Bro."
Nevertheless, this is another film that will send your mind all over the place. At the beginning, I did wonder why the government, in spite of their belief in hackers being abnormal, delusional hermits, would even worry about one guy like Mitnick, and his "right-to-know" attitude??? I also wondered if they had the authority to do what they did. But I don't guess it matters, they did it anyway. Why is it a crime to be gifted (or just well-taught at college) enough to be able to penetrate encriptions and see the secret stuff someone has on their database??? Could be the government has met their match in these young computer experts, and they must exercise control over them, even if it means putting them in prison. Why is it a crime to have abilities, no matter how stupid they are?
Or, maybe Kevin Mitnick is every bit as dangerous and malicious as the government and the authors of TAKEDOWN say he is. At the beginning of the movie, he has already been involved with hacking into cell phones and government branches, and impersonating corporate employees to gain access the newest stuff.
Skeet Ulrich turns in a great performance as Mitnick, whether or not he was 100% accurate. The film begins when he and his friend Alex Lowe (Donal Logue) sit down in a club with a guy who approached them with the promise of the most state-of-the-art hacking fun. Lance "The Icebreaker" Petersen (Jeremy Sisto, looking like the love child of Rutger Hauer and Nancy Spungeon) introduces himself as a fellow hacker who doesn't hack anymore. What he really means, but doesn't say, is that he is a former hacker named Justin Tanner Petersen aka Eric Heinz aka "Agent Steal".
Petersen spent time in prison for stalking his girlfriend and hacking into her computer, and for various scams, and was reported to have gotten a few years shaved off in exchange for helping the Feds get Mitnick. At this point, Mitnick has already run afoul and is on probation. The FBI suspects he is still hacking, which is where The Icebreaker comes in. Alas, Petersen screws up and everyone ends up in even more trouble. Back when this film had just wrapped post production (1999 or 2000), I read something about the real Justin Petersen being "very displeased" about the way he was portrayed in this film.
As far as a personal life is concerned, Mitnick is depicted as having a bad marriage with a skinny, inconsequential chick named Shelley, who is cheating on him with Alex. Doesn't matter though, Kevin finds himself on the run after the fiasco with Petersen, and manages to stay a step ahead of the federal agents who come knocking.
It seems that, yes, the government, in all their power and glory has met its match in these young, gifted geeks, and so it's only logical that they should seek the assistance of a member of this same breed. On the lam, Mitnick ends up on the bad side of a security analyst and programmer named Tsutomu Shimomura (played by Russell Wong). Mitnick saw Tomu on C-SPAN bragging about a "discovery" he made in the Nokitel Cellular program. It literally turns a mobile phone into a wicked surveillance device. The Congressmen are understandably shaken, and squirm in their plushy seats as they overhear something involving one of their best Congress buddies and a hooker going on perhaps a fourth of a mile away. Power. The ability to expose and to destroy. The self-satified smirk on Shimomura's face cements my belief that if he wished to, he could become an even bigger enemy to National Security than Mitnick.
When Mitnick sees this on TV, he is seized by the familiar lust to know, to possess, and to utilize this "power". Is Mitnick really a criminal though, or is he just a poorer version of these Big Congressmen and those Corporate Bigwigs.
We're not TOLD to decide Mitnick is the one, or at least, the only one, in the wrong. The film, in my opinion simply unfolds. I think it lets you make your own decisions. It just tells the story. Ulrich portrayed Mitnick as a real person. For a time, I believed he really thought we all have the "right to know".
Mitnick fails to fool Shimomura into giving him the code for this Nokitel program. Shimomura is not as gullible as some of the people Mitnick has beguiled over the phone, and he even calls Mitnick on it. Now some ego begins to rear its head. Inferiorated, Mitnick decides to hack into Shimomura's system and "get him". Bank records, credit card information, and even very personal dirt regarding Tomu's girlfriend Julia (Angela Featherstone), is flung into Tomu's face by his unseen nemesis. It all becomes personal between the two, and I'm not lying when I say that Shimomura is just as flawed as Mitnick. There is a lot of ego and arrogance in both of these characters. One of the few things supporters of Kevin will admit to is that Russell Wong really did a good job bringing "the bastard" to life.
In a short time, Mitnick succeeds in getting the coveted code without Shimomura's help, and this is the last straw. Shimomura, Julia and their friends (played by Ethan Suplee and Master P) join forces with federal agents Gibson (Christopher MacDonald) and McCoy (Tom Berenger), in hopes of catching Mitnick before he breaks into the Nokitel and gains access to "Contempt", a formidable virus that can grind society to a screeching halt, and resist any efforts to thwart it...like Dreadnaught maybe? Was this why Tomu called Mitnick a "cracker"? Because he "cracked" codes? Or was it just a personal insult?
I thought a lot of the secondary characters might as well not have even been created, they were so unremarkable. Julia stands by Tomu's side to help him chase Mitnick, but not one word is mentioned about what qualifies her. For the most part, her significant work in this film is supplying the love/sex scenes. Wasted. Suplee's and Master P's characters left me feeling likewise. They were "filler", as well as the character of Karen (Amanda Peet), a waitress Mitnick meets after he moves from LA to Seattle and assumes the name Brian Merrill. He tries to turn her on to eavesdropping with the cell phone, and it only creeps her out.
I thought MacDonald was wonderful, and supplies some unexpected laughs when Mitnick has Gibson's water and electricity turned off via computer. "That little fucker!" Berenger rounded out the "good guys" with his natural leadership presence. Logue always delights when he's on screen. He's just a really good sidekick to Ulrich's Mitnick. Sisto's role didn't feel wasted to me at all. It's small, but pivotal, and it's so amusing. Not just the drastic departure from his normal physical appearance, but the hilariousness of Petersen's ineptitude.
Using his arsenal of hacking equipment, Mitnick taunts, eludes and angers his persuers as he leads the chase to North Carolina. He seems to become progressively obsessive about infiltrating the Contempt program, and slowly but surely cracks the code. Shimomura becomes ever more determined to find Mitnick and stop him, believing he will seize control of thousands of computers and cell phones and wreak havok.
Would Mitnick have used this "power" to try to bring down society? Was he really that evil and/or mentally deranged? How would it have benefitted a "nobody" like him to render hospitals and other important functions useless? Did he have some secret plan to demand a load of money in exchange for handing over what he had stolen? Was he really a danger, or just a foolish kid addicted to the idea of power?
The FBI strongly believed Mitnick was very dangerous, and they finally made their arrest, just as he had cracked the Contempt code and uploaded it to what he thought was a secure database. It was, in fact, an account set up by Shimomura. Kevin was tried, convicted and imprisoned, and everyone breathed their "sigh of relief".
What really makes me think this film is unbiased, no matter what everyone says or what book it's based on, is the "Free Kevin" message at the end. Or maybe it's just a reminder of all those dangerous malicious hackers out there.
My head is spinning. I tell the God's truth when I say don't know whether to side with Mitnick or subscribe to the belief that he and his kind are a real menace. One thing I do know is that this movie truly strikes me as a fair and just re-telling of the controversial tale. The pace is fast and furious and the acting is first rate.
Directed by Joe Chappelle
Song: Computer Love by Zapp & Roger
Daily Juice commentary
Pix and Stills
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TAKEDOWN
