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Here is a timely reminder of the consequences of war, especially with so many battles taking place at the moment. As it's such a topical issue, the themes presented are realistic and engage the viewer in every aspect of the decision making process. It certainly helps when there's Helen Mirren and Alan Rickman (his final live action performance) in the cast. In fact, all the actors deliver stirring and memorable performances that highlight how ethical dilemmas can determine the choices people make. The story provocatively asks if conscience can affect the judgement of military personnel.

Colonel Katherine Powell (Helen Mirren) is a UK-based military officer who is in command of a top secret drone operation to capture terrorists in Kenya. Through remote surveillance and on-the-ground intel led by Jama Farah (Barkhad Abdi), Powell discovers the targets are planning a suicide bombing. As a result, the objective is changed from capture to kill. American drone pilot Steve Watts (Aaron Paul) is about to engage but discovers a young girl who is in the vicinity of the target. Powell contacts fellow military like Lieutenant General Frank Benson (Alan Rickman), politicians and lawyers to determine whether to take action.

It does take a while to set up the story with the opening scenes taking place in many different locations. All these places are represented by captions on the screen. Once the mission has been explained, the tension of the plot never lets up. The 'Eye in the Sky' of the title represents the drone or satellite imagery that provides a bird's eye view of what is transpiring on the ground. These scenes are expertly handled by director, Gavin Hood. It could have so easily been boring seeing images from the sky but the fluidity of the camera movements ensures that the thrills are maintained throughout the deliberations.

Credit must go to the cast for displaying the tensions and anxieties that some military personnel experience. Mirren hardly makes a poor choice when it comes to role selection and she is at her commanding best in this movie. Rickman will be missed after his untimely death earlier this year but this is a fine performance to bow out with. Paul also deserves recognition for expressing the uncertainty and morals that drone pilots can undergo. Abdi proves that his Oscar nominated performance in Captain Phillips was no fluke and acts with great determination here.

Eye in the Sky is a thrilling and exciting insight of modern warfare. The conversations exchanged between the participants might be technical at times but the viewer gets the gist of what is happening through the superior acting especially by Mirren and Rickman. There's also the action taking place on the screen that shows without a doubt how tense and indecisive things can be behind the scenes and on the ground.

The main news about this movie prior to its release was how no Egyptians were cast even though the story is about Egypt and its inhabitants. Now that it has finally been released the major talk should be about how silly it is. 140 million dollars was spent to make this? The poor and homeless in Egypt should have been given this money instead. Australian backers played a pivotal role in the funding of this production. It now seems like the stellar year of Aussie films in 2015 has been diminished by this so-called God hovering over its success. 'Gods' in name only, definitely not through merit.

Set (Gerard Butler) is a God of Egypt who has ambitions to reign supreme. He kills his brother Osiris (Bryan Brown) in order to ascend the throne. His nephew, Horus (Nikolaj Coaster-Waldau) seeks revenge for his father's death but cannot possibly do so without his eyes, which have been taken away by his uncle. Mortal hero Bek (Brenton Thwaites) finds one of Horus' eyes that has special powers, locates his whereabouts and teams up with him. Their mission: kill Set and restore order to the once peaceful and prosperous empire.

The acting is simply atrocious. There's Gerard Butler's Scottish accent which seems so out of this place in this movie. There's Chadwick Boseman who camps it up as Thoth, the god of writing and knowledge. There's Nikolaj Coaster-Waldau who delivers a wooden performance. There's Geoffrey Rush as Ra, the father of Horus and Set. He must have been in it for the money for this is one of his worst ever performances. At least Brenton Thwaites provides a hero that the audience can cheer for with his energetic and kinetic portrayal of the mortal who wins the trust of Horus.

Even if the movie is aimed at generating escapism qualities, it doesn't excuse the awful dialogue. Here is an example of the dialogue that will make you wince: While Set is battling Bek, he asks him where Horus' eye is. Bek replies with, "Up your arse along with the goats!" There should have been some script editing in the development process.

There are several exciting action scenes which try to cover up the deficiencies in script and acting. It's only when the actors start talking again that you realise you have to endure further pain. The action sequences keep you awake, unfortunately the acting and dialogue do not.

Where has the 140 million dollars gone? Most of it has probably gone to the visual effects which is predominantly CGI. It's not even state of the art CGI with some scenes looking decidedly fake. There is one scene involving a waterfall which is obvious to everyone that it has been generated by computer.

Alex Proyas is the director and he has made a few decent films like "I Robot", "Dark City" and "The Crow". "Gods of Egypt" isn't one of them. He has gone out of control with trying to make this a visual spectacle by bombarding his audience with as many CGI effects as possible. Movies intended for the big screen still need to have a reasonable script and half-decent acting performances!