Eagle Eye

Jerry Shaw (Shia LaBeouf) is a slacker underachiever. His twin brother dies. Then strange things start happening like a fortune in his bank account, massive amounts of weapons in his apartment, a phone call telling him to leave before the police, and the FBI crashing into his home. Jerry is arrested by Agent Thomas Morgan (Billy Bob Thornton). Rachel Holloman (Michelle Monaghan) is a single mom. A phone call gives her instructions threatening to kill her son. Meanwhile the phone calls keep coming guiding the pair to some unknown objective.

There is some good action going on, and a whole lot of outrageous insanity. It struggles between realism and paranoid fantasy. The movie aims to go so fast with so much action that the audience doesn't have time to think about logic or reason. Then it gets even more complicated and it's too much. It seems like a simple story would be so much better. The movie kept going and going. At some point in the last half hour, the movie needs to end. It's just got too much.

Ah, the seemingly perfect combination of Steven Spielberg, director D.J. Caruso, and everyman leading star Shia LaBeouf. These guys took us by storm with the pleasant surprise Disturbia last year, and pretty much anything with the name Spielberg on it has to be at least entertaining, if not excellent. That's what Eagle Eye is.

First off, I cannot stress this enough: don't take this movie seriously. Please don't get mad because the movie isn't realistic. I know it's unrealistic. You know it. Shia LaBeouf knows it. That doesn't stop Eagle Eye from being one of the most entertaining and effective thrillers of recent memory. Is it as smart or as gripping as other chase and mystery thrillers such as the Bourne series? Of course not. However, whenever Eagle Eye stretches our minds to the breaking limits with the insanity on screen, it manages to throw in a mind boggling action sequence or two right as we start to get mad.

The film, very well masked by trailers that really only show the beginning of the film and small pieces of the end, deals with cyber-terrorism and a secret military project dealing with destruction and national security. The US Secretary of Defense is portrayed (Michael Chiklis), it's incredibly unrealistic, has Shia LaBeouf, and has a prominent military character (Anthony Mackie). I can already here the Transformers comparisons flying in. The film also lacks in the originality department elsewhere, as elements of I, Robot and Live Free or Die Hard are also present and quite obvious.

I cannot give enough accolades to whoever thought up this action - Eagle Eye boasts arguably the best action sequences of the year. The CGI is seamless and more than worthy of an Oscar nomination. With car chases to rival the best of them, as well as one of the most clever "on-foot" chases I've ever seen within an airport, Eagle Eye never fails to grab your attention with the incredible action sequences.

Now to our cast, the headliners of which are two of film's biggest rising stars. Both live up to their names and reputations admirably. Shia LaBeouf revisits the "troubled youth" character he created in Disturbia, though his turn here is darker and has more depth. He really stretches some acting muscle in the beginning of the film, and it is because of this early success that we are willing to go along for the ride with him, following, trusting, and believing in his Jerry Shaw. Michelle Monaghan, long one of the most underrated in the business, also helps us believe in her character with a convincing show of emotion early in the film. The whole film, despite the action sequences, rides on the shoulders of the leads. If the audience doesn't like them, the film will ultimately fail. I'm pleased to tell you that they rise to the occasion and carry the film with ease.

Our supporting cast includes veterans Billy Bob Thornton and Michael Chiklis. Maybe it was the script, but Thornton's character was so stereotypical and overdone that it almost made him laughable - especially towards the end. Chiklis did great in his role as the Secretary of Defense - and the unfortunate "victim" of circumstance. Rosario Dawson and Anthony Mackie are acceptable in even smaller roles.

I remember when I watched my first D.J. Caruso film a few years ago (Two For the Money), and I remember how much I hated that film. However, Caruso has certainly grown as a filmmaker and has found his niche in the hugely entertaining action blockbuster genre, even if a lot of "movie borrowing" is done. This will be his breakthrough that will allow him a little more freedom as a filmmaker and possibly allow him to blossom into more than just an action film director. The touches of Spielberg are obvious, as the legendary director/producer's presence is only a plus.

Eagle Eye, in short, is a summer blockbuster released in September. It feels like a summer film, and has the components of a summer film: explosions, terrorism, and Shia LaBeouf. It is everything you want in an entertaining action thriller. Don't go looking for your super realistic epic here - Eagle Eye prides itself on blowing your mind every way possible.

Steven Spielburg is just hitting out blockbusters 3 times a year at least at the moment and this outing is definitely not different. The film is exciting, well acted and has been well thought out and directed.

The film is about a slacker who gets drawn into a government scandal by a mysterious voice on a cell phone along with the mother of a young child who is performing at the white house and they eventual find themselves running from not only the machine, but the whole country of America as well. This leads to a very good movie I would definitely recommend to any movie goer.

Anyway, Shia Labeouf is very good in this film and helps hold it together with Billy Bob Thornten, who, I must admit actually did a good job in this film.

Overall, I think this film is a good watch and a good movie to watch with friends. It really does show that Steve is one of the masters of Hollywood. I rate it 74%

Eagle Eye is not the best movie I've ever seen but it's much better than some of the other junk that been out lately. Yes, it copies almost every recent political thriller and yes it rips off some other movies too, but don't most movies recently do the same. The action was good and the main characters at least were made to be real people that you could connect with. And Billy Bob Thornton was having so much fun and was at his best since Armageddon. This movie proves again that Shia LeBeouf has some talent, too bad he can't seem to stay off the tabloids. Michelle Monaghan also was very good. Unlike some of the critics I thought the ending was quite noble. 8/10

Essentially seems like someone saw transformers and was like I can get Shia to run for 2hrs as well with pretty much no story or plot happening . Decent enough though, bit long.