REVIEW: Eagle Eye
EAGLE EYE
Lee Rice
As its name might imply, ‘Eagle Eye’ is a visual feast that’s high on special effects, but sadly low on brains.
Shia LaBeouf plays one of a pair of identical twins who gets called home to bury his brother, an Air Force officer who died in a car accident caused by a malfunctioning stop light. Within hours of his brother’s funeral, he finds that his bank account has been filled to bursting with illicit cash, his apartment is loaded with illegal weapons, and he is now wanted for terrorism. He gets a call from an eerie female voice telling him to flee, and from there, the chase is on.
‘Eagle Eye’ is one of those movies that you simply sit back and enjoy. If you don’t think about things, you have fun, but the second you start thinking about anything too hard, you suddenly realize that nothing that happens really holds water.
Examples abound, mostly in the chase sequences where Shia’s unseen guide remotely hacks in to everything from power lines, to billboards, to ATMs, to robotic cranes, to airport baggage claims, to… well… you get the picture. It seems that the mysterious agent provocateur could hack into a Zippo lighter if the plot required it, and it provides a constant strain on the viewers willful suspension of disbelief.
This irksome little item aside, people’s ability to believe what is happening is further strained by the inclusion of several increasingly convenient plot devices. In fact, it seems like the writers decided to invent several new (and incredibly implausible) gadgets just to fill in the already massive holes that they have punched through their own plot.
Just the same, the special effects are fantastic, and that goes a long way to preventing the audience from just throwing up their hands at the sheer indignities being perpetrated against their common sense.
How can she be controlling those cranes/drones/signs/insert non-remote accessible item here?
Who cares?!?! EXPLOSIONS ARE AWESOME!
Anybody who is looking for a taught political thriller with messages about the danger of over-dependence on technology or government insight will be sorely disappointed, though. Although this film could easily have changed its tone to deal more personally with the issues of the day, it never does.
On the other hand, it probably shouldn’t. ‘Eagle Eye’s’ appeal lies more in its special effects, and it’s smart enough not to try and get too preachy with an audience that’s already having a hard time believing their eyes.
The acting is pretty good, although I can’t help but feel that the leads could have been given a little more latitude to act. At times, it feels that there were missed opportunities to explore the characters, but what little we do see of the characters lives serves to set them up adequately for the rest of the film.
All told, ‘Eagle Eye’ is a big, loud, and fun movie that doesn’t expect much of its audience except for them to sit back, turn off their brain, and enjoy the pretty colors.
Final Verdict- C+
