Thriller Movie Review - Eagle Eye

Here is another fast paced action thriller, I'm on a roll. I promise next week's won't be so... explosive.  This movie came out in 2009, but its subject matter seems more relevant today with AI everywhere.  How's that for a teaser!?

What it's about:

"Jerry Shaw (Shia LaBeouf) and Rachel Holloman (Michelle Monaghan) are two strangers whose lives are suddenly thrown into turmoil by a mysterious woman they have never met. Threatening their lives and family, the unseen caller uses everyday technology to control their actions and push them into increasing danger. As events escalate, Jerry and Rachel become the country's most-wanted fugitives and must figure out what is happening to them."

Taglines: "If you want to live you will obey"

"Don't walk. Run."

Cast:

-- Shia LaBeouf as Jerry Shaw

-- William Sadleras Jerry's Dad

-- Michelle Monaghan as Rachel Holloman

-- Billy Bob Thornton as Agent Thomas Morgan

-- Rosario Dawson as Zoe Perez

-- Michael Chiklis as Defense Secretary Callister

-- Anthony Mackie as Major William Bowman

-- Ethan Embry as Agent Toby Grant

-- Director:  D.J. Caruso

-- Writers:  John Glenn, Travis Wright, and Hillary Seitz

    

Rated PG-13  1 hour 58 minutes

       

Rotten Tomatoes 27% and Viewers 62%:

-- "Eagle Eye is a totally derivative, unoriginal techno-thriller, cribbing scenes and ideas from better films. ... But it's also thoroughly entertaining." Sonny Bunch-Washington Times

-- "...one could certainly do far worse as far as movies of this ilk go." David Nusair-Reel Film Reviews

-- "What, you can't relate to someone being controlled by an omniscient machine?" Jules Brenner-Cinema Signals

-- "It's going to make you want to take the batteries out of your cell phone... An intelligent nail biter." Ben Mankewicz-At the Movies

-- "Even though it clearly resides in the realm of science fiction, it appears to be set in the present day, which is more than enough to tweak even the most rational person's sense of paranoia." Jamews Kendrick-Q Network Film Desk

Noteworthy awards or rankings:

-- Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA 

2009 Nominee Saturn Award:  Best Science Fiction Film

-- ASCAP Film and Television Music Awards

2010 Winner ASCAP Award:  Top Box Office Films

-- ASCAP Film and Television Music Awards

2009 Winner ASCAP Award:  Top Box Office Films

-- BET Awards

2009 Nominee Best Actress: Rosario Dawson

-- Motion Picture Sound Editors, USA

2009 Nominee Golden Reel Award

Best Sound Editing:  Sound Effects and Foley in a Feature Film

-- MTV Movie + TV Awards

2009 Nominee MTV Movie Award 

Best Male Performance:  Shia LaBeouf

-- People's Choice Awards, USA

2009 Nominee People's Choice Award

Favorite Movie Drama

-- California on Location Awards

2008 Winner COLA:  Location Team of the Year

-- Empire Awards, UK

2009 Nominee Empire Award: Best Thriller

-- Visual Effects Society Awards

2009 Nominee VES Award:  Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Feature Motion Picture

-- Society of Camera Operators

2009 Nominee Camera Operator of the Year Award:  Martin Schaer

     

Trivia (from IMDB):

-- Shia LaBeouf stated that during filming, an FBI agent told him and the cast that one in every five phone calls someone makes is recorded. To prove this, the agent had him listen to a phone call he made two years prior to filming.

-- Shia LaBeouf and Michelle Monaghan did eighty percent of their stunts.

-- ARIIA is voiced by Julianne Moore, who chose to go uncredited.

-- According to Shia LaBeouf, in order to become emotional for the funeral scene, he listened to Judy Garland's "Over The Rainbow." He stated that he "breaks down" when hearing that song.

-- The design of Eagle Eye is very similar to the detection arrays for a Neutrino Detector - rows upon rows of orange glass globes in an underground, water filled bunker.

-- When Rachel is at the bar with her friends, the song "Sometime Around Midnight" by The Airborne Toxic Event can be heard in the background. D.J. Caruso, the director of "Eagle Eye", also directed the music video for "Sometime Around Midnight".

-- Was the first film released in September since Sweet Home Alabama (2002) to gross over $100 million.

-- The fake passport given to Rachel Holloman (Michelle Monaghan) - shows her date of birth as 23 March 1980. Monaghan's date of birth is 23 March 1976.

-- Both Shia LaBeouf and Michelle Monaghan appear in Constantine (2005)

-- The distinctive church seen in the Chicago establishing shot (around 8 minutes in) is St. James Catholic Church in the 2900 block of South Wabash Ave. The building one block south of the church, which is passed by the "L" train as the shot ends, is the Arthur S Keating Sports Center, also on South Wabash.

-- Rosario Dawson (Agent Perez), Michael Chiklis (Def. Sec. Callister), and Anthony Mackie (Major Bowman) all starred in comic book movies based on Marvel properties. Dawson as Claire Temple on Netflix' Daredevil (2015) and related series, Chiklis as Ben Grimm in Fantastic Four (2005) and Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007), and Mackie as Sam Wilson (the Falcon) in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

    

My Thoughts:

I suggest you suspend your disbelief and at the beginning of this movie ask yourself, could AI get to this point?

Shia LaBeouf and Michelle Monaghan's acting give this action script the heart and soul it needed. With all the computer stuff happening it is these two plus Billy Bob Thornton that bring home the human element and how critical it remains.

There is a lot of action, but thankfully the quieter moments develop the characters and give us some heartfelt touches. The camerawork is standard for action movies, but the color pallet is skewed sometimes to give it a more sci-fi touch.  This is a thriller because several lives are at stake and a clock is counting down. Within everything happening, there is the question of what happened to Jerry Shaw's (Shia LaBeouf's) brother. With the thriller aspects and mystery around Jerry's brother, I felt this was a good fit as a mystery movie.

Very clever and thought provoking on pushing the AI envelope.  I consider this movie like Jurassic Park: "Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn't stop to think if they should." Only instead of dinosaurs it is Artificial Intelligence. Combine that with the 1983 movie War Games where the human element has been replaced by computers and you have Eagle Eye.  I think the concept is a good one and it is brought to life competently IMHO. I was on the edge of my seat. Give it a try for a lightening speed ride one night.

Movie Trailer:

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