Eagle Eye Blu-ray Review

By Ned Jordan

Eagle Eye is based on an interesting premise: what if all of the interconnected technology that surrounds us was used against us? It may not be an entirely original premise, but it's interesting nonetheless. Unfortunately, Eagle Eye doesn't really know where to go with this premise. It's a movie so in love with its concept and self-deluded in the importance of its message that it neglects to concern itself with things like plausibility or a cohesive plot. This movie has such a convoluted plot and an addiction to deus ex machina moments that after watching I found myself angry at the filmmakers behind Eagle Eye for wasting my time and insulting my intelligence.

Jerry Shaw (Shia LeBeouf) returns from his brother's funeral to find his apartment completely filled with boxes containing weapons, explosives, and military specifications. A few moments later he receives a call on his cell from a mysterious woman who tells him that the FBI is on its way and that he must immediately make his escape. After eluding the FBI with the woman's help, Shaw tries to ditch his cell phone and find a place to hide. However, no matter where he goes the woman seems to instantly find him, contacting him through the cell phones of people around him, electronic signs, and just about anything electronic. He is soon forced to work together with Rachel Holloman, a woman forced by the mysterious voice to obey her orders under the threat to Holloman's son's life. Together they go on an extended road trip as part of a ludicrously convoluted plan to get them to Washington DC. Their ultimate task once they reach the city is so outrageously absurd that you'll be angry at the writers for expecting you to swallow the whole thing. What should be the tense dramatic climax of the film is completely neutered by one 'you've got to be kidding me' moment after another. In the film's nonsensical world it is easy for the entity behind the voice to instantly kill someone in a traffic accident or even by snapping a power line in the middle of nowhere and have it whip down a running person, but to attempt to kill others it must work to set-up a ridiculous sequence of events that would put Rube Goldberg to shame. If you want to scare people about the potential dangers of a society too reliant on technology, then you need to make things both plausible and believable. After watching Eagle Eye, the next time you look at your cell phone it will be hard not to just roll your eyes.

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