EAGLE EYE
EAGLE EYE |
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Jerry and Rachel are thrown together when a mysterious phone call makes them America's Most Wanted and puts the force of the FBI on their tales. | score 3 |
moviereview rates films from 1 (unwatchable) to 5 (unmissable) |
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| Cast Shia LaBeouf, Michelle Monaghan, Billy Bob Thornton, Rosario Dawson Director D.J. Caruso Screenwriter John Glenn, Travis Wright Country USA Rating / Running Time M / 110 minutes Australian Release September 2008 Official Site (c) moviereview
2006-2008
ABN 72 775 390 361 |
Take Mission: Impossible, 1984 and 2001: A Space Odyssey,
drop them on any Bond set and the results would not be so far from
Caruso’s follow-up to last years Disturbia. This high-octane
action thriller is exactly that, ball-busting nonsense that rips across
the screen so fast it would make Tony Scott smile. Eagle Eye is, of
course, utterly ridiculous. A half-baked plot about a self-aware,
self-empowered super-computer committed to regime change that looks
like it’s straight off the pages of a Marvel comic. Yet this is
not about character development or emotional resonance – Caruso
leaves that to Marvel comics. Eagle Eye is about thrills, spills and broken machines. You know, action. Shortly before Jerry (Shia LaBeouf) meets Rachel (Michelle Monaghan), they both receive a mysterious phone call. It coincides with Jerry being busted on a trumped-up terrorism charge. More phone calls and the pair are suddenly America’s Most Wanted with the FBI’s Billy Bob Thornton hard on their tail. Yet the mysterious caller has connections and technology on her side. She also has plans that include Jerry, Rachel and the US President. Plot is pretty much a contrivance to let Caruso unleash carnage across America which he does with some style. As planes, trains and automobiles meet various explosive endings, Eagle Eye is nothing if not exhilarating. Its tongue is kept firmly in a cheek turned coyly from an audience asked to ingest a mighty serving of disbelief. But it goes down easily enough given the wham-bam action-man’s super-stylings and the not unrewarding presence of LaBeouf and Thornton. Add a layer of digital eavesdropping that would have any conspiracy theorist clean out the tissue department of his/her local supermarket, and all the fun boxes are firmly ticked. Remove your brain and strap in for a ride. // COLIN FRASER |