Eagle Eye

[Episode29]

****ty rating list if you ask me wanted may not have followed the comics but it was damn entertaining and a hell of alot of action and good acting ah well guess to get at least a 7 it has be great

I'd actually say his rating his list is, a few exceptions noted, pretty good. Let's be honest, ratings of any sort are pretty lame. You can't truly judge a film-going experience with a letter grade or number. That's where indepth analysis and critical thought comes in. A rating is a simplistic device that people like because it allows them to gauge something without properly understanding the reasons behind the grade.

Now, I work in the 5-star system in my reviews. I gave Eagle Eye a 3, meaning one and a half stars. Conversely, I gave Iron Man an 8, which is heresy to many people here. But it's a four star rating. To score higher than that is a rare feat, met by only about 4 or 5 movies a year - and usually ones outside of the summer blockbuster system so beloved here (Although Dark Knight achieved that feat).

I agree with you that Wanted had pretty good action and acting, but it was also sloppy and occasionally incoherent in its staging. I gave it a 6, which sounds horrible, but is actually a modest recommendation. I suspect YJ1 has the same sort of system in mind.

By the way, a personal pet peeve: the overabundance of 10/10 ratings on SHH pretty much disqualifies rational criticism and blurs distastefully into hyperbolic fanboyism. Indy IV or Speed Racer are not flawless films. That's territory usually reserved for films like Raging Bull, Pulp Fiction or Psycho. There are few modern films that match their level of brilliance. The only ones I can come up with are The Diving Bell & The Butterfly, No Country For Old Men and, more controversially, Little Children or Mulholland Drive. Dark Knight and The Lord Of The Rings flicks are questionable, but not compeletely undeserving of such a high grade.

Again, that last part is my own opinion. Feel free to tell me Little Children sucks.

 

[블라스]

Another american supremacy *********ory exercise.
Terrible.
5/10.

 

[lou2099]

And yet you paid to see a majority of the movies he has been in..

Only because he's not the star. I saw Transformers for Optimus Prime, I saw Indy 4 for Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones. I watched Even Stevens for Christy Carlson Romano. I didn't see Disturbia, I don't want to see Eagle Eye.

 

[Episode29]

My review:

His name is LaBeouf. Learn it well. For his is the glorious face of the future of the cinematic art form!

...Or at least that’s what those thunderous voices emanating from the Titans of Tinseltown have been bellowing for the last few years, as the ever-encroaching spectre of Shia LaBeouf slowly began infiltrating the tranquility of our daily lives. From the moment he was cast in Walt Disney’s Holes (Has there ever been a dirtier sounding family film?), the buzz has been deafening, and the back-to-back-to-back hits Disturbia, Transformers and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull were likened to triumphant blasts, heralding the arrival of an unstoppable box-office force. So how does one follow up two bazillion-grossing extra-terrestrial themed blockbusters? You make a paranoid suspense flick dealing with governmental surveillance (Hey, it worked for Big Willie, right?).

Which brings us to Eagle Eye, a head-slappingly absurd cyber-thriller, which pairs LaBeouf’s Jerry, a Copy Cabana-employed ne’er-do-well, with pretty single mother Rachel (Michelle Monaghan), and sets them on the run from their own government (handily personified by terse FBI man Billy Bob Thornton and gutsy Air Force investigator Rosario Dawson). The duo must obey an ominous female voice on a telephone (Julianne Moore in a wisely uncredited vocal cameo), who can see them anywhere, anytime, and who threatens their personal safety if they do not comply with her often bizarre demands. Should I also mention that amidst these energetic events a controversy swirls around a presidential decision to attack an Afghani desert funeral that may have been attended by a bin Laden-like terrorist? Could the two events possibly be related?

Now fine, the set-up for Eagle Eye is actually promising, and LaBeouf has a nicely shifty personality (though bad teenage facial hair was a questionable choice), all off-beat gesticulating and rapid-fire speech patterns, that’s fun to see plugged in to something this generic. He’s a bit like ‘Ratso’ Rizzo’s suburban nephew. But he’s badly sidelined at the beginning of the second act when the script takes a laughable turn. Before proceeding, I’d recommend anyone who yearns to experience Eagle Eye unsullied skip the next paragraph. Hark, light spoilers be on the horizon!

It turns out that the mysterious “voice” is Project Eagle Eye: a rogue governmental computer dubbed ARIA, which is modelled so closely to 2001’s HAL 9000 that I hope Stanley Kubrick’s estate is getting royalties, who has decided that the United States government is in a critical state of disarray and in need of intervention (Oh, how I wish they’d cast Michael Moore as the ARIA’s voice...). So, its plan is to stage the most overly-complex, silly scheme against the powers that be as inhumanly possible. It goes without saying that ARIA can control every single mechanical thing in the free-world: cranes, electrical conductors, iPhones and even, in a shameless plug, the Circuit City home-entertainment department.

Director D.J. Caruso, who helmed Disturbia, tries to ground all this nonsense by attempting to shoot the picture like a half-witted homage to seventies’ cinema. He has the gritty filters down, but his action beats are flat out embarrassing. The film’s first intended show-stopper, a rapid-fire chase through downtown D.C., has apparently been shot and edited by a blind epileptic, while the second, featuring a self-flying attack plane, is a second-rate rip-off of Stealth and Live Free or Die Hard. I don’t even want to describe Caruso’s The Man Who Knew Too Much-lifted climax for fear of being haunted by Hitchcock’s ornery ghost.

Perhaps Eagle Eye’s most egregious crime, however, is wasting such an impeccable supporting cast. Rosario Dawson and Michelle Monaghan (who earned serious geek-cred with Kiss Kiss Bang Bang) are as devoid of personality as their super-powered puppet master. At least Billy Bob Thornton, who bears a mad glint of secret self-amusement, almost manages to rouse the audience awake with his oddball behaviour and (likely improv-ed) dialogue.

This brings us back to LaBeouf: the Man, the Myth and the Legend. He’s engaging and idiosyncratic, and able to make badly-written sarcastic lines about trains turning into talking ducks strangely crowd-pleasing. While many would like to deny it, he’s an excellent lead because he understands the importance of a charismatic, grounded central figure, and yet brings numerous attractive acting choices to the table. Unfortunately despite his talents, he’s incapable of redeeming this project, which boasts an Eagle Eye... and a bird-brain.

Grade: *1/2

 

[Nirvana]

I just saw this today. My expectations were high around the release date, then they went down because of all the bad word of mouth I was hearing. But seeing it today, I was pleasantly surprised. It was actually pretty good.

 

[AlteredEgo]

My review:

His name is LaBeouf. Learn it well. For his is the glorious face of the future of the cinematic art form!

...Or at least that’s what those thunderous voices emanating from the Titans of Tinseltown have been bellowing for the last few years, as the ever-encroaching spectre of Shia LaBeouf slowly began infiltrating the tranquility of our daily lives. From the moment he was cast in Walt Disney’s Holes (Has there ever been a dirtier sounding family film?), the buzz has been deafening, and the back-to-back-to-back hits Disturbia, Transformers and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull were likened to triumphant blasts, heralding the arrival of an unstoppable box-office force. So how does one follow up two bazillion-grossing extra-terrestrial themed blockbusters? You make a paranoid suspense flick dealing with governmental surveillance (Hey, it worked for Big Willie, right?).

Which brings us to Eagle Eye, a head-slappingly absurd cyber-thriller, which pairs LaBeouf’s Jerry, a Copy Cabana-employed ne’er-do-well, with pretty single mother Rachel (Michelle Monaghan), and sets them on the run from their own government (handily personified by terse FBI man Billy Bob Thornton and gutsy Air Force investigator Rosario Dawson). The duo must obey an ominous female voice on a telephone (Julianne Moore in a wisely uncredited vocal cameo), who can see them anywhere, anytime, and who threatens their personal safety if they do not comply with her often bizarre demands. Should I also mention that amidst these energetic events a controversy swirls around a presidential decision to attack an Afghani desert funeral that may have been attended by a bin Laden-like terrorist? Could the two events possibly be related?

Now fine, the set-up for Eagle Eye is actually promising, and LaBeouf has a nicely shifty personality (though bad teenage facial hair was a questionable choice), all off-beat gesticulating and rapid-fire speech patterns, that’s fun to see plugged in to something this generic. He’s a bit like ‘Ratso’ Rizzo’s suburban nephew. But he’s badly sidelined at the beginning of the second act when the script takes a laughable turn. Before proceeding, I’d recommend anyone who yearns to experience Eagle Eye unsullied skip the next paragraph. Hark, light spoilers be on the horizon!

It turns out that the mysterious “voice” is Project Eagle Eye: a rogue governmental computer dubbed ARIA, which is modelled so closely to 2001’s HAL 9000 that I hope Stanley Kubrick’s estate is getting royalties, who has decided that the United States government is in a critical state of disarray and in need of intervention (Oh, how I wish they’d cast Michael Moore as the ARIA’s voice...). So, its plan is to stage the most overly-complex, silly scheme against the powers that be as inhumanly possible. It goes without saying that ARIA can control every single mechanical thing in the free-world: cranes, electrical conductors, iPhones and even, in a shameless plug, the Circuit City home-entertainment department.

Director D.J. Caruso, who helmed Disturbia, tries to ground all this nonsense by attempting to shoot the picture like a half-witted homage to seventies’ cinema. He has the gritty filters down, but his action beats are flat out embarrassing. The film’s first intended show-stopper, a rapid-fire chase through downtown D.C., has apparently been shot and edited by a blind epileptic, while the second, featuring a self-flying attack plane, is a second-rate rip-off of Stealth and Live Free or Die Hard. I don’t even want to describe Caruso’s The Man Who Knew Too Much-lifted climax for fear of being haunted by Hitchcock’s ornery ghost.

Perhaps Eagle Eye’s most egregious crime, however, is wasting such an impeccable supporting cast. Rosario Dawson and Michelle Monaghan (who earned serious geek-cred with Kiss Kiss Bang Bang) are as devoid of personality as their super-powered puppet master. At least Billy Bob Thornton, who bears a mad glint of secret self-amusement, almost manages to rouse the audience awake with his oddball behaviour and (likely improv-ed) dialogue.

This brings us back at LaBeouf: the Man, the Myth and the Legend. He’s engaging and idiosyncratic, and able to make badly-written sarcastic lines about trains turning in talking ducks strangely crowd-pleasing. While many would like to deny it, he’s an excellent lead because he understands the importance of a charismatic, grounded central figure, and yet brings numerous attractive acting choices to the table. Unfortunately despite his talents, he’s incapable of redeeming this project, which boasts an Eagle Eye... and a bird-brain.

Grade: *1/2

dude. my thoughts- exactly.... eerie.

 

[TNC9852002]

I will never pay money for a movie with Shia Lebouf as the main character. Transformers 1 & 2 and Indy 4 get the pass because he is not the star. As does Even Stevens because Christy Carlson Romano was the real star.

-TNC

 

[kaylee]

You all are entitled to your opinions, of course, and taste can vary really widely. I really enjoyed the movie, though, and I'll make an attempt to explain why.

I went to see it expecting an action flick -- not something along the lines of nominal "action" movies like Dark Knight or something, that has a lot of deeper substance, but just something exciting and interesting. And I have to say that it really delivered. I actually really liked Shia LaBeouf in it, and I loved Michelle Monaghan in it, and nothing can ever touch how much I liked Billy Bob in it. The actors have good chemistry, and personally I found the twist to be pretty interesting, and have multiple tiers... the first one was predictable, but I think it was so because it sets you up not to see the second one coming. I didn't, anyway.

At any rate, again, everyone has their opinions, but I really enjoyed it, and to judge by the reactions of the others in my theater, they really did too. So I think it's not -quite- fair to imply that everyone who goes to see it will be disappointed.

 

[Spider-Fan]

I liked the movie. Is it far fetched? Sure. Have I seen similar endings to climaxes? Sure. But, I was entertained, and that is what I expected. I thought the technology message was done well enough. Oscar worthy? No, but not all movies need to be.

Solid movie

 

[Cinemaman]

6/10

Intersting characters, awesome action scenes, first act was well done, the same with the second one, but the final and ending just killed the joy. I really think that the biggest mistake of this film was its happy end, which simply destroyed everything what was attempted to be put together for me.

Shia did a great job, by the way

 

[Franklin Richards]

Looks like Zohan has a higher rating than this stinker.

 

[Nightmare]

I was real disappointed with this. I had high hopes. The highlight of the night was my hot date. But what a waste of 17 bucks.

 

[fu manchu]

An entertaining movie, but ridiculous plot. I rate it 6/10.

 

[Octoberist]

the problem is here is that the story concept came from Speilberg and it kinda shows how he's out of touch now. I love Spielberg, but man, Eagle Eye is the most cliche ridden movie ever. I know he didn't directly write or direct the movie, but the concept is there..and it's so unoriginal.

 

[TNC9852002]

the problem is here is that the story concept came from Speilberg and it kinda shows how he's out of touch now. I love Spielberg, but man, Eagle Eye is the most cliche ridden movie ever. I know he didn't directly write or direct the movie, but the concept is there..and it's so unoriginal.

Well, who knows how much was changed from the original concept?

_TNC

 

[Octoberist]

well, regardless, Eagle Eye is just a forgettable movie all together. And isn't that a shame..

 

[Hunter Rider]

I saw the film today, I can see why some had a problem with it, the premise hinted at in the trailer goes a lot further into "sci fi" territory than i thought it would.

After 45 minutes, despite the likable characters and exciting action, even i was finding it hard to tolerate the impossibility of what was happening, then they hit the reveal point and i got it, from that point i bought into the concept of "What if" played against a chase thriller background, it's like Enemy of the State via 2001.

The two leads are both excellent and easy to relate to which really helps take you into their terrifying situation. The action in the movie is slick and stylish with some real heft to it, although Caruso could ease up on the edits in the main car chase. The sequence in the tunnel is one of my favourites this year.

The scene that Shia and Monaghan have in the crate on the plane was anicely acted and an cool intimate little moment that i felt played really well as a slow down from the break neck pace.

I thought the film built up to a fantastic ending that brought all the pieces of the puzzle to a checkmate situation. It's not for everyone but personally i really enjoyed it and can't wait to see it again to pick bits up i missed the first time.

Spoiler

The one thing i was conflicted on was the ending, part of me thought Jerry should have died, but i also liked the nice warm moment between him and Rachel that closed the film.

8/10

 

[The Chris]

I saw the film today, I can see why some had a problem with it, the premise hinted at in the trailer goes a lot further into "sci fi" territory than i thought it would.

After 45 minutes, despite the likable characters and exciting action, even i was finding it hard to tolerate the impossibility of what was happening, then they hit the reveal point and i got it, from that point i bought into the concept of "What if" played against a chase thriller background, it's like Enemy of the State via 2001.

The two leads are both excellent and easy to relate to which really helps take you into their terrifying situation. The action in the movie is slick and stylish with some real heft to it, although Caruso could ease up on the edits in the main car chase. The sequence in the tunnel is one of my favourites this year.

The scene that Shia and Monaghan have in the crate on the plane was anicely acted and an cool intimate little moment that i felt played really well as a slow down from the break neck pace.

I thought the film built up to a fantastic ending that brought all the pieces of the puzzle to a checkmate situation. It's not for everyone but personally i really enjoyed it and can't wait to see it again to pick bits up i missed the first time.

Spoiler

The one thing i was conflicted on was the ending, part of me thought Jerry should have died, but i also liked the nice warm moment between him and Rachel that closed the film.

8/10

Yep agreed.

Spoiler

About halfway through I was thinking there was no way Aria was human. She was just too good.

By the time we got to the foot chase in the airport I started loving the movie. It was nice to see an unlimited imagination in a film again.

 

[vanson]

there was way too much of the shaky-cam style in the action sequences..
but yeah.. overall.. i was disappointed..

Spoiler

the big computer with AI, who makes what it wants was nothing new... for example.. i robot... and i think there was also an crane which was operated by the computer

5/10

 

[black_dust]

I liked it some good action and suspense in it

8/10

 

[Lord Blackbolt]

I thought the movie was real fun. I didn't think the action was that hard to follow. I didn't have that problem with Quantum of Solace either....I guess I just don't have a problem with shaky cam in general