Eagle Eye

Ah, the seemingly perfect combination of Steven Spielberg, director D.J. Caruso, and everyman leading star Shia LaBeouf. These guys took us by storm with the pleasant surprise Disturbia last year, and pretty much anything with the name Spielberg on it has to be at least entertaining, if not excellent. That's what Eagle Eye is.

First off, I cannot stress this enough: don't take this movie seriously. Please don't get mad because the movie isn't realistic. I know it's unrealistic. You know it. Shia LaBeouf knows it. That doesn't stop Eagle Eye from being one of the most entertaining and effective thrillers of recent memory. Is it as smart or as gripping as other chase and mystery thrillers such as the Bourne series? Of course not. However, whenever Eagle Eye stretches our minds to the breaking limits with the insanity on screen, it manages to throw in a mind boggling action sequence or two right as we start to get mad.

The film, very well masked by trailers that really only show the beginning of the film and small pieces of the end, deals with cyber-terrorism and a secret military project dealing with destruction and national security. The US Secretary of Defense is portrayed (Michael Chiklis), it's incredibly unrealistic, has Shia LaBeouf, and has a prominent military character (Anthony Mackie). I can already here the Transformers comparisons flying in. The film also lacks in the originality department elsewhere, as elements of I, Robot and Live Free or Die Hard are also present and quite obvious.

I cannot give enough accolades to whoever thought up this action - Eagle Eye boasts arguably the best action sequences of the year. The CGI is seamless and more than worthy of an Oscar nomination. With car chases to rival the best of them, as well as one of the most clever "on-foot" chases I've ever seen within an airport, Eagle Eye never fails to grab your attention with the incredible action sequences.

Now to our cast, the headliners of which are two of film's biggest rising stars. Both live up to their names and reputations admirably. Shia LaBeouf revisits the "troubled youth" character he created in Disturbia, though his turn here is darker and has more depth. He really stretches some acting muscle in the beginning of the film, and it is because of this early success that we are willing to go along for the ride with him, following, trusting, and believing in his Jerry Shaw. Michelle Monaghan, long one of the most underrated in the business, also helps us believe in her character with a convincing show of emotion early in the film. The whole film, despite the action sequences, rides on the shoulders of the leads. If the audience doesn't like them, the film will ultimately fail. I'm pleased to tell you that they rise to the occasion and carry the film with ease.

Our supporting cast includes veterans Billy Bob Thornton and Michael Chiklis. Maybe it was the script, but Thornton's character was so stereotypical and overdone that it almost made him laughable - especially towards the end. Chiklis did great in his role as the Secretary of Defense - and the unfortunate "victim" of circumstance. Rosario Dawson and Anthony Mackie are acceptable in even smaller roles.

I remember when I watched my first D.J. Caruso film a few years ago (Two For the Money), and I remember how much I hated that film. However, Caruso has certainly grown as a filmmaker and has found his niche in the hugely entertaining action blockbuster genre, even if a lot of "movie borrowing" is done. This will be his breakthrough that will allow him a little more freedom as a filmmaker and possibly allow him to blossom into more than just an action film director. The touches of Spielberg are obvious, as the legendary director/producer's presence is only a plus.

Eagle Eye, in short, is a summer blockbuster released in September. It feels like a summer film, and has the components of a summer film: explosions, terrorism, and Shia LaBeouf. It is everything you want in an entertaining action thriller. Don't go looking for your super realistic epic here - Eagle Eye prides itself on blowing your mind every way possible.

Essentially seems like someone saw transformers and was like I can get Shia to run for 2hrs as well with pretty much no story or plot happening . Decent enough though, bit long.

Eagle Eye is not the best movie I've ever seen but it's much better than some of the other junk that been out lately. Yes, it copies almost every recent political thriller and yes it rips off some other movies too, but don't most movies recently do the same. The action was good and the main characters at least were made to be real people that you could connect with. And Billy Bob Thornton was having so much fun and was at his best since Armageddon. This movie proves again that Shia LeBeouf has some talent, too bad he can't seem to stay off the tabloids. Michelle Monaghan also was very good. Unlike some of the critics I thought the ending was quite noble. 8/10

I think this is possibly the third film this year that has directly involved a higher power turning 'insufficient funds' into a considerable amount, and while this comparison is valid in a sense, that's where similarities end. From the trailers I was imagining Eagle Eye to be a cross between The Matrix and Wanted, but it's not… not at all. No, it is neither creatively similar nor anywhere near the same quality. So despite some similarities, Eagle Eye at least delivers an experience that is refreshing, but at the same time familiar. Not much risk-taking is implemented here; there are virtually no new ideas of any kind, and the themes present have all been battered to death in countless novels and films that have frankly done the job far more successfully. Read aloud, the script could easily be interpreted to be a techno-phobe's transcription of a recurring nightmare; the government tracking us all on phones, cameras lip-reading us etc. etc. and for the most part, that is how the movie plays out. While these elements leave an experience that will always have you guessing as to where the movie is going next, the eventual climax of the film boils down to character rather than plot, and as a result of spotty characterisation, the film eventually falls flat. Despite some major issues however, Eagle Eye still manages to retain a sense of spectacle, and the story, although mostly a science-fiction dud for the most part, does move forward at a decent rate. In this regard, the movie makes for good popcorn watching, but not much else.

Following meek photo-copy shop clerk Jerry Shaw (Shia LaBeouf) as he takes the road after being wrongly suspected as a terrorist by the FBI, Eagle Eye is standard political thriller material; there's the hard-ass government officials, the misunderstood civilian who is inevitably on his way to save everyone, and the fragile love interest along for the ride in the form of Rachel Holloman (Michelle Monaghan). What makes this feature at least a little more interesting than the cookie-cutter outline of thriller scripts however is that both these lead characters are being led on a mysterious journey across the country by a voice-on-a-phone who has access to all sorts of technology that governs our civilisation from computers, phones and TVs to billboards and alarm systems. Through this voice, Eagle Eye delivers its main theme of technological sabotage and paranoia; Big Brother with ones and zeroes. Of course, it's not the most original of ideas, and the movie's script plays them as obvious as can be with no desire for subtlety at all. As such, the writer's lack of anything interesting to say becomes apparent after the first act comes to an end. As far as science-fiction goes, it's standard thematic material. Again, no real developments or ideas are plugged in here for you to digest, only well established ones reiterated for your brainless entertainment.

One of the script's far more successful elements however lies in the character of Jerry, and his off-screen relationship with his recently deceased brother. Although the movie never transgresses beyond the rather a-typical successful brother/lazy brother aesthetic, the writing is focused and sharp enough to give actor LaBeouf enough material to work with. So far this year LaBeouf has proved himself a highly capable performer, and Eagle Eye does well to showcase his talents here. While his chemistry with co-star Monaghan is almost non-existent, the actor does well to cover up most of the holes in this mismatch, and in his character in order to make Jerry a sympathetic, but engaging persona to watch. As a leading man, LaBeouf still shows some restraint and doesn't ever quite improve on his less-than-charismatic performance in Transformers, but as was the case there, his small image often complements the scope of the movie.

In the end, all the characters and their developed relations do eventually come to an emotionally engaging climax that capitalises on such developments with great conviction. Of course, there's a dud of an ending that follows the real climax in order to provide picky viewers with a bow on top of their cathartic package, but it doesn't hurt the final payoff too much. Taken as a whole however, Eagle Eye certainly isn't perfect but it isn't bad either. For popcorn entertainment, director D.J. Caruso does his job well enough to create an engaging thriller that delivers some action, some character and some plot, even if it all feels a little underwhelming when put together. Anyone looking for anything but fluffy action-orientated thrills driven by mystery and spotty politics would be best to find something else to chew on; mildly enjoyable, but not entirely memorable.

• Written by Jamie Robert Ward (http://www.invocus.net)

Jerry Shaw (Shia LaBeouf) is a slacker underachiever. His twin brother dies. Then strange things start happening like a fortune in his bank account, massive amounts of weapons in his apartment, a phone call telling him to leave before the police, and the FBI crashing into his home. Jerry is arrested by Agent Thomas Morgan (Billy Bob Thornton). Rachel Holloman (Michelle Monaghan) is a single mom. A phone call gives her instructions threatening to kill her son. Meanwhile the phone calls keep coming guiding the pair to some unknown objective.

There is some good action going on, and a whole lot of outrageous insanity. It struggles between realism and paranoid fantasy. The movie aims to go so fast with so much action that the audience doesn't have time to think about logic or reason. Then it gets even more complicated and it's too much. It seems like a simple story would be so much better. The movie kept going and going. At some point in the last half hour, the movie needs to end. It's just got too much.