Eagle Eye - A Film Review

It's amazing how, when feeling rather tired, you can really wake up to a good spot of sci-fi action thriller in the form of a movie. It's also rather amazing when you see the budgets of said movies. I myself was feeling rather tired today, and was generally in that kind of mood where you want to blow something up. (Kaboom!) Feeling like this, I decided to watch 'Eagle Eye'.


One of several advertisements created for the movie.

Only days after his brother's death, Jerry finds his empty bank account loaded with $750,000 and his apartment filled with military equipment and bomb-making apparatus. Then he gets a call from a woman he doesn't know. She tells him to run. After a brush with the FBI, he finds that the woman on the phone can control pretty much everything - including killing him, if she thinks it is necessary. To stay alive, he must obey her every instruction to the letter.
   Rachel's son is going on a school trip with his school band when she is contacted by an unknown number and told to obey every instruction given to her. If she does not comply, then her child will be killed.
   Thrown together by chance or fate, the pair must evade the FBI, follow the strange woman's commands and try and work out happening before it is too late...

I must say that I found this film compelling. The idea of a supposed overlord being able to control almost everything via remote connections is an interesting one at that, and one that I'd really like to implement myself. Of course, I wouldn't be using it for the purposes of cyber terrorism. I'd just be making sure that people weren't attempting to steal my work. Ignore me, I'm slightly paranoid.
   This film really shone the spotlight upon terrorism and how the government may react to a mere hint of terrorism being found. Massive overreactions, found in this film as gunfights and general chaos, permeate the story, which is ever so slightly nonexistent at times, while making for some rather entertaining viewing. The film portrayed the American take on the threat of terrorism rather well, I thought. Sending the whole FBI and most of the police force after two people who don't even have a fixed goal was really a smart move on the part of the government. Not.
   The characters were alright. Jerry wasn't really pulling me in. He was sort of dull, you know, in that way where he's so caught up in his own self-pity. Rachel however was good. As a single mother, she was given all the instincts of a mother - basically, protect that kid at all costs. Funny thing was that she almost ended up killing him. Stupid woman.
   The story was kinda weak. A computer tries to decapitate the American government. It gets two citizens to do it for it. That's the extent of it. The only thing that I'm left wondering about at the end of it all is why it took so long for the army to realise that the computer was evil. Honestly, have they never seen the Terminator films?

The ratings are in.
   I'll give this a six point five (6.5). A rather weak storyline, some great action, alright characters, good suspense and generally lots of chaos. An excuse for a high budget that wasn't spent on the scriptwriters. That's not a good thing.
   One final thing: If you're going to watch this, look out for the electricity pylons. They make a good barbecue. Hee hee hee...