Cast: Shia LaBeouf, Michelle Monaghan, Billy Bob Thornton, Rosario Dawson, Michael Chiklis, Julliane Moore
Director: D.J. Caruso
Running Time:
118 mins
Transformers star Shia LaBeouf returns to the big screen with his latest action thriller Eagle Eye which revolves around Jerry Shaw (LaBeouf) and Rachel Holloman (Michelle Monaghan), two strangers who are unwillingly tangled in the US armed forces' dirty laundry by a mysterious woman who seems to control and monitor their every move with the use of simple modern-day technology. The security situation within the US reaches high volatility when an ill advised and haphazard attack on an unconfirmed target in the Middle-East kills dozens of peaceful villagers triggering terrorist attacks and threats on diplomatic missions and targets within the country. Shaw and Holloman who are seemingly unrelated to the issue at hand are left with no choice but to follow every command of an unidentifiable woman who seems to have power over all electronic objects revealing the astounding methods employed by the US security forces to keep a close tab on inland security.
The story at first glance seems to be an original and daring multi-dimensional look at the fight on terrorism and the lengths that a government would go to protect its citizens. But that is however only at first glance. The story opens with great optimism and promises to deliver something the audience may have never seen before. However, the story slowly degenerates into a technological Artificial Intelligence (AI) thriller which so many previous films have done before and done significantly better. We programme the AI to take care of us, the AI is somehow smarter than the way in which we programmed it, it figures out we are our worst enemy and decides to take matters into its own hands. Seriously though, it's getting a tad old. Considering Steven Spielberg had his hand in this one some may be surprised at the lack of ingenuity as we all know that if there's one thing we cannot deny Spielberg, it's an imagination. The film does however offer some great car chases and big bangs for all you action buffs and that's something LaBeouf seems to be getting accustomed to. Visually, the film was thrilling and engrossing but seemed to cheat its audience of a better plot especially since it teases the viewers into whipping up their own theories in the first half of the film.
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LaBeouf has impressed me greatly in his previous films including the latest instalment of Indiana Jones and Transformers. Unfortunately his acting skills seem to always hide behind the grandeur of the film's action sequences, visual effects and sometimes even the mere occasion of the film and Eagle Eye unfortunately was no different. He doesn't wary his character too much and he seems to pick roles closer to home than most other actors. He did a respectable job with an interesting character in Shaw who seems to be struggling to come to terms with always living in the shadow of his twin brother. The charming Michelle Monaghan (The Heartbreak Kid, North Country) plays Holloman, a single parent who is desperately seeking to save her son's life now under threat by the mysterious woman (voice: Julianne Moore) by any means necessary. Monaghan is somewhat forgettable as is her character which happened to be the fate of most of the cast in the film. Rosario Dawson played a very uninteresting and unnecessary role in Agent Perez working for the Air force intelligence while Billy Bob Thornton also plays the forgettable FBI team leader Thomas Morgan.
The film shamelessly borrows from other films of its kind and does little in way of originality while certain aspects of the ending were hopelessly anti-climatic. The film has a great build up but is so utterly predictable that I actually didn't expect it to be such a simple story.
The makers seem to take the easy way out in using technological advances to hide behind instead of explaining their way out of the complexity of the opening sequences. Still against my better judgement I would recommend Eagle Eye as it is infuriating but entertaining nonetheless with plenty of explosions, drama and an interesting look at the fight on terrorism. |
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