Eagle Eye
*** out of ****
“Eagle Eye” is the type of thriller that races from all of its action setpieces so fast, you’d think everybody involved in the production got high on speed before filming each scene. It’s the type of movie where, by the time the end credits roll, you may find yourself winded and desperately gasping for air because there’s rarely a moment where the film slows down enough for us to catch our breath. ‘Relentless’ is too modest a term to describe this film; more like incessant. But while that may be a bad thing where most of today’s Hollywood thrillers are concerned, “Eagle Eye” is able to turn that into a strength. Despite not being able to accurately keep track of a high-speed car chase about half an hour in, this is still a vibrantly crafted techno-thriller that’s heavy on fast-paced chases and decidedly light on brains. But in spite of all that, “Eagle Eye” gets its job done, which is to entertain us with implausibility.
“Eagle Eye” is based on an idea which sprang from the head of Executive Producer Steven Spielberg, and that idea is, “What if technology turned against you in every conceivable way?” Think about it for a second, and it does seem rather silly and the big reveal about how this is all being orchestrated against the film’s two main characters is even sillier, but if we have the gall to question reality and deny the impossible within the confines of the story, then we have no business being in the theatre in the first place. Although, the question of how someone can run into the State of the Union disguised as a cop and fire off gunshots about two seconds before a musical note activates a bomb does enter our mind afterwards, with a movie like this, we go along with these implausibilities for the sake of the movie. Call me generous if you like, but I’ll take a little self-indulgence any day of the week.
In a premise curiously similar to 1998′s “Enemy of the State”, “Eagle Eye” revolves around our government being so paranoid when it comes to matters of national security, that technology has been invented which would allow the movements of civilians to be monitored 24 hours every day. And if that technology were ever to be turned against us, it’d be our worst nightmare. That’s precisely what Jerry Shaw (Shia LaBeouf) and Rachel Holloman (Michelle Monaghan) find out when a cold, emotionless female voice calls up each of them on their cell phones, informing them that they’ve “been activated”. The voice demands that they carry out her orders, otherwise people close to Jerry and Rachel will be killed. Exactly how this mysterious woman is able to control their every move is equally mysterious, and pretty soon, she has construction cranes plowing into the building where Jerry is in custody (because this woman has also framed him as a terrorist), sending out messages concerning Jerry’s suspected terrorist ties via cell phone to the passengers on a train he tries to escape on, and manipulating traffic lights in the midst of the aforementioned car chase. Anything’s possible for this terrorist, or could she be something…else? Something…government-funded?
I will give you something like a code name for her: Aria. And amidst Aria’s manipulations, Jerry and Rachel must avoid pursuing FBI agent Thomas Morgan (Billy Bob Thornton) while still carrying out Aria’s orders. But they dare not disobey, especially after witnessing first-hand Aria snapping the lines of a power line and killing someone by way of electrocution.
The film is filled with ideas that are certainly imaginative, from that nifty power line cutting to Aria calling Jerry by way of the cell phone of a sleeping passenger beside him, the level of capability Aria possesses is astounding and may even have some people scared that they’ll hear, “You’ve been activated” the next time they get a call from an unknown number. While I certainly liked the film and enjoyed all these neat tricks, others may find “Eagle Eye” too preposterous to be entertaining, but in a way, it’s entertaining because it’s preposterous.
Sporting a collection of scruffy facial hair that rivals that of Hugh Laurie on TV’s “House” (and myself when I haven’t shaved for a while), up-and-coming star Shia LaBeouf plays Jerry Shaw, the everyday slacker who drops out of Stanford and engages in poker games in the back of the Copying company where he works in order to accumulate some cash. LaBeouf also plays Jerry’s more successful twin brother Ethan, whose recent death may not have been an accident after all. With his performance here, I’m starting to see what Spielberg sees in him; “Eagle Eye” marks their fourth consecutive film together. LaBeouf brings credibility to the character of Jerry, allowing the young star to show off his true acting chops and when you consider that he got his start on the Disney Channel, he’s certainly come a long way. Michelle Monaghan is one of my favorite new actresses, and despite the seriousness of the situations she and Jerry are continually put in, Monaghan is able to bring her usual charm to the movie. I’m definitely glad to see her getting more movie roles and I can’t wait to see what she does next. The rest of the cast is rounded out by Billy Bob Thornton, Rosario Dawson and Michael Chiklis, who plays Defense Secretary George Callister; they all do their best with the material.
The director is DJ Caruso, who also helmed another LaBeouf thriller last year: “Disturbia”. Obviously influenced by similar films of the genre such as the “Bourne” movies, Caruso seems eager to use the shaky cam technique to enhance the tension during the action and the more intense conversations. Caruso also seems capable of staging some pretty fancy and expensive-looking action sequences, action sequences that are so explosive that you won’t believe that this thing cost $80 million to make — it seems like it should have a budget of at least $100 million. Caruso films the action so hyperactively and with so much gusto, it’d make even Michael Bay tired. But tradition dictates that if you have the type of setup “Eagle Eye” has for its story, you gotta inject it with some big-scale action. And while the action of “Eagle Eye” doesn’t induce intense motion sickness like that of “Cloverfield”, the shaky cam does occasionally become too noticable and tiresome.
As far as techno-thrillers go, “Eagle Eye” isn’t anything groundbreaking, and it borders on just plain ridiculous from time to time, but there’s no denying its energy level and on top of that, it’s just a whole lot of fun.
