Review of Eye in the Sky (2015) by Omar L — 06 Apr 2016

This movie should be considered required viewing for anyone who believes that they have the definitive opinion on how to fight a war, whether civilian or military, warmonger or pacifist.

The ethics of war may seem like a contradiction in terms, and the separation of the military and its civilian government leadership and policymakers would seem like an unnecessary one in the chain of command. In fact, the very concept of the chain of command itself is put to the test in this story. There have been comparisons to "Dr. Strangelove," but that comparison only holds up in terms of difficult communication between parties; "Dr. Strangelove" satirically dealt with a hypothetical type of war, while "Eye in the Sky" seriously deals with the current state of warfare. The monstrosity of fanatic-driven terrorism is a given, and that we don't see the result of suicide bombings is what gives this film much of its unspoken drama.

The term "collateral damage" has come to mean something far more serious in today's world of surgical weapons. Long gone are the carpet-bombing days of World War II, where entire cities were legitimate targets. Now, when targeting one room in a house as opposed another can mean the different between life and death of an innocent bystander, no measurement is too small, no life isn't worth considering. Do the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few or the one? Does policy trump the mission? Do people outweigh both? These are all questions that "Eye in the Sky" forces us to confront.