Review of Eagle Eye (2008) by Chris M — 22 Apr 2011

Although not especially bad, Eagle Eye could have been so much more. It borrows heavily from other films with The Matrix, The Bourne Trillogy and I-Robot ones that immediately spring to my mind. But still, nothing wrong with plagiarism if you are stealing something worth stealing and you could do a lot worse than those?

Jerry (LaBeouf) is a young man of limited responsibility and hes not even very good at meeting those small targets. Hes broke, behind on the rent for his modest apartment and has always been a bit of a stray. His twin brother however works for the armed forces so Jerry has never been able to compete with this. His life changes when a shipment of boxes turns up at his apartment along with approx 750,000 bucks in his bank account. He is then whisked away into a sequence of chases, political espionage and croquet (the last one is a lie). Meanwhile, token single mum, divorcee and "pint of beer guzzled in one" hero Michelle (mmm classy I hear you say), gets a call that threatens her sons life if she doesnt follow instructions issued to her by a voice on the phone. As this is going on FBI officials lead by Agent Morgan (Thornton) and Air Force high flyer (por pun intended) Zoe Perez (the smouldering temptress that is Rosario Dawson) are trying to track down Jerry and Michelle to question them on matters of national security.

My biggest crticism of Eagle Eye is that it is far too predictable. You are rarely (if ever) suprised by the sequence of events that unfold. Its a little too likeable for my taste in that you dont really dislike anyone and you end up wanting them all to succeed which just doesnt fit a film like this. The moral of Eagle Eye for me is one of my age old sayings, you try to please everyone and you end up pleasing nobody.