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Eagle Eye 5.5 out of 10 Posted: 09/29/08
Running time: 1:58 MPAA rating: PG-13 (Intense sequences of action and violence, and for language.) Peruvian rating: Mayores de 14
Cast:
Shia LaBeouf, Michelle Monaghan,
Rosario Dawson, Michael Chiklis, Billy Bob Thornton. |
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I had actually been expecting the release of Eagle Eye. The fact that the movie was Steven Spielberg’s idea, that it starred Shia LaBeouf, that it was directed by D.J. Caruso (the same guy who helmed the very entertaining Disturbia), and that the trailers were pretty solid created some expectations in many people, including me. Usually, when I watch bad movies, I don’t get angry because I normally haven’t been expecting them. Now, when a film disappoints me, that’s when I get angry. And that’s what happened with Eagle Eye. This is a movie that should have been smart and entertaining, but ended up being stupid and, especially during its last half an hour or so of running time, boring. I saw tons of potential in Eagle Eye, as well as some decent performances and mildly interesting plot points, but nothing else. Now that I think about it, I’m being a little generous with the rating I’m giving it – maybe because, precisely, I had been expecting the movie, and I just can’t accept the fact that it was much worse than I would’ve wanted it to be.
The film tells the story of two characters whose lives are intertwined by some incredible situations…
Firstly, there’s Jerry Shaw (Shia LaBeouf), a slacker who works as a clerk (or “copy associate”, as he tells a cop) in a store called “Copy Cabana”. One day, he stops by an ATM machine to withdraw money and finds $750,000 in his account. He then returns to his apartment and discovers a series of boxes that have arrived, containing things like weapons, drugs and military gadgets. Suddenly, he receives a call from a mysterious woman that tells him that, if he doesn’t leave his home in thirty seconds, he’s going to be arrested by the FBI.
Secondly, there’s Rachel Holloman (Michelle Monaghan), a single mother sending her son off on a school trip. (He’s going to a concert to play the trumpet.) While he is away on a train, she receives a call form the same woman who contacted Jerry, telling her that if she wants to save her son from dying in a train crash, he must obey everything she tells her. Rachel does as she's told and eventually meets Jerry in a car. Together, the two of them go on a trip that’s being directed by the voice on the phone, which seems to have the power to control every electronic and electric device there is. What is her purpose? I won’t reveal it, but suffice is to say that such a convoluted plot shouldn’t have been necessary for our protagonists to do the voice’s bidding.
I will first start with the good stuff, just to be nice with the filmmakers. For instance, performances are pretty solid. Shia LaBeouf isn’t required to do much apart from looking scared and amazed, scream a lot, cry a little, and get involved in complicated car chases, but he does all of this pretty effectively. The kid has charisma, I’ll give you that, but it would be more interesting if he was given more demanding roles. I mean, if he can be this good in action-oriented roles (this movie, Transformers, Indy 4…), I imagine he can be even better in more demanding or serious ones. That said, it was good to see him in something a little more mature – he’s the leading man now, and he isn’t playing a kid, which manages to differentiate his performance here from, for example, his Sam Witwicky in last year’s Transformers. (Or next year’s highly anticipated sequel.)
Michelle Monaghan is also good. She’s as beautiful as she’s talented, but like LaBeouf, I have the impression that she’s being wasted by accepting too many undemanding roles. One just has to look at his resume: a stereotypical love interest in Mission Impossible III, a paper-thin character in Made of Honor, an action oriented and undeveloped role in this film… the fact that she convinces us that her Rachel is real means that she’s good the acting chops, but it doesn’t really help that her character is, by nature, not very developed. (I also didn’t like the fact that she was bitchy with Jerry about his brother, but that’s actually the writers’ fault…)
Unfortunately, the rest of performers were either wasted or ineffective. Michael Chilkis is solid as the defense secretary, but doesn’t provide with anything we haven’t seen before. Billy Bob Thornton is creepy, believe it or not, as the FBI agent chasing Rachel and Jerry. There was something about his face that gave me the creeps, although I admit that, on paper, his character is not half-bad. (Although he’s given some horribly stupid lines to say.) Rosario Dawson, another talented and beautifully actress, gives some dignity to her character – another agent involved in Jerry’s case – but it’s obvious from watching her performance that she’s doing it for the paycheck. I definitely prefer to watch her in lower-budget, indie movies. (It’s obvious she enjoys doing those films more than acting in multi million dollar blockbusters, especially ones as idiotic as this one.)
Yes, I wrote “idiotic.” The main problem with Eagle Eye is that it is too convoluted and stupidly-written to be enjoyable. I mean, after thinking a little about the movie, I came up with dozens of questions regarding plot holes and the conspiracy against the protagonists. Firstly, the most important one: why does the voice want to achieve its goal in such a complicated way? If it has so much power, like the ability to control cameras and planes and fry people with electrical apparatuses, why does it depend on people? Also, why did the kids take so much time to go to Washington in a train? Why didn’t Rachel go to the cops instead of immediately accepting to obey this mysterious voice? And why were they talking about the game Rock Band during one of the final scenes if, according to cameras, the movie takes place in 2009? (They should at least be talking about Rock Band 2 or something.) I guess it has to do with product placement – I’m not exaggerating when I say Eagle Eye has some of the most shameless product placement I’ve ever seen in a movie. (Some companies/products that appear/are mentioned: Porsche, McDonalds, Macy’s, Circuit City…)
Moreover, the film isn’t even enjoyable as an action flick. Okay, I admit it, the last scene during the state of the union was pretty tense and suspenseful, and a couple of car chases were engrossing, which means the movie was actually watchable… but what I didn’t like was the way Caruso shot the action: tons of quick cuts and an confusingly shaking camera. It was almost impossible to follow the action because the camera moved so much, and because everything was shot in close-ups. I agree with the fact that these techniques sometimes make these scenes more intense and exciting (as in The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum), but in here it was just excessive. I wasn’t even remotely excited during the chases, because: a.) the characters are paper-thin, b.) the action is confusing c.) I’ve seen like a hundred car chases in my life and most of them are the same. I admit that some of the chases in Eagle Eye are original – like the one involving the trash compactors -, but since they were shot so clumsily and confusingly, I wasn’t able to enjoy them. The action in Eagle Eye is also fire, smoke, explosions, screams, close-ups and cars flying around. Nothing more.
I wanted to like Eagle Eye, I really did. The premise is interesting, performances are decent – although actors like Michael Chilkis were wasted – and some of the chases were original, but these are the only redeeming values one might want to find in the movie. What disappointed me the most was that the film had potential, but it was wasted because it seems that the filmmakers were more interested in making an action flick full of fire, explosions and dumb dialogue instead of something more intelligent. Even the ending was disappointing – I was expecting a conspiracy or something of the sort, not a mixture of The Terminator, I, Robot and The Matrix. I didn’t enjoy the movie as much as I would’ve wanted to for a diversity of reasons, but I think the most significant one would be that it was boring. And if a film that’s supposed to be an exciting blockbuster drags during most of its running time, what’s the point of watching it? You know what? Go watch Disturbia instead. (Or if you're even more demanding, Rear Window would be a better choice.)
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©2008 Sebastián Zavala - Star Wars Epica |
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