EAGLE EYE (2008)

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"Oh yeah Jerry, it's a coffee maker."

Alright so many of you know how much I thought this movie looked stupid, but I'm here to tell you with this review, that I was completely and ONE HUNDRED PERCENT WRONG! It was amazing. So, I feel I should explain the way I had to see this, since I pointed out that I had absolutely NO interest in seeing it. I am the Entertainment Editor for my School's paper, called "The Pinnicon." Anyway, I assign the articles, along with the two OTHER editors to the kids in the lower class of Journalism, who are the reporters. Well, my original plan was to give myself a review of the new book "Brisingr" which I am reading, as well as go see, and write a review for "Lakeview Terrace," but when I came across a paper of requests for articles, someone wanted that one, so I decided to be nice and give her THAT review, thinking I'll go and see it anyway. Then one of the other editors, who is Editor-In-Chief, asked if I could go and see "Eagle Eye," and write a review for that. Well, I didn't bother saying how much I DIDN'T want to see it, I was nice, and said I didn't think it'd be a problem. Well, now, having gone to see "Eagle Eye," I was more than "pleasantly surprised," I was truly BLOWN AWAY. There are reviews giving this movie a 3.5, and I find that to be one hell of a ridiculous rating. This movie was incredible, and I'm here to convince you to go and see it.

The directing of this movie is done by director D.J. Caruso, who's also directed the movie "Disturbia," which ALSO featured Shia LaBeouf as one of the main characters. Caruso's vision for this movie was definitely one of amazing standards, and I'd like to apologize for thinking it looked retarded. This was far from it. All of his visions for this movie were absolutely brilliant. I know many say it wasn't very realistic, but what the fuck dude, I don't think it's supposed to be very realistic. I loved everything about this, and D.J. Caruso definitely knew what he was doing. This movie will stun many, I know it definitely stunned myself. The writers for this movie include John Glenn, Travis Wright, Hillary Seitz, and Dan McDermott, and these people have brought us a script for one of the most action-packed, original, and overall incredible movies that I have ever seen. Normally films like this aren't really my forte, but this one was absolutely amazing. They spin a story that actually redeemed Shia LaBeouf in my eyes. I know you all know me as the person who despised him, but this movie finally made me forget all about his role on that stupid "Even Stevens" show. He's definitely grown up. The director, as well as the writers, have brought us one hell of an amazing movie.

The visuals in this movie are absolutely, one hundred percent, amazing. The one interesting thing about movies like this, are the fact that they've got the most amazing visuals, and this one goes above all other ones that I've ever seen. There are so many things that I can mention, but I'd like to NOT ruin the movie, so I'll name a few. The first is all of the explosions and car crashes. Most movies have them looks so fake that you have to roll your eyes, but this movie makes them look incredibly real, believe it or not. The explosions are done with just the right amount of fire and such, really helps the movie. There are a couple of scenes that had some mechanical things that went "haywire" and those looked cool too. One of them was a scene where the power whacked out, it looked neat to see them whipping around and shooting electricity everywhere. Another thing that I liked was when all of the cranes in the junk yard were moving and flinging things all over the place. THAT was VERY cool. One more visual is the look of "Arya" a supercomputer, that you'll learn more about by watching the movie. So the visuals are definitely an aspect of this movie that are amazing.

The storyline of this movie, as I've said, is one original story. It's got many different plots, but they all interweave nicely, and make one incredible movie. Like a friend of mine wrote, "If you take 'I, Robot' and 'Enemy of the State,' and mix them together, you get 'Eagle Eye.'" It was definitely a creative way of bringing in a strange and invisible villain, who can pretty much cause ANYTHING to happen to insert her dominance in the situation, and pitting it against two heroes who have incredibly motivating, as well as sad positions, to take up in their fight for life. I liked all the action that was packed into this film. It was incredible, and definitely added some more to the storyline, making it clear how desperate the situation is. One man, who seems to have lost everything now that his brother was killed, is suddenly forced into a situation by a mysterious voice on a phone, making him seem like a terrorist, while at the same time, a woman is thrust into a similar situation, by a similar voice, but her young son is what is at stake. Soon the mysterious voice pits these two together, and they're thrust into a situation that they don't understand, while at the same time, they're being pursued by the FBI, AND the Air Force. The story definitely grips you right the fuck away, and you are taken on one hell of an action-packed ride, never making your attention waver. You're gripped from start to end. The story was definitely well developed, and one incredible one at that.

Starring in the lead of this movie as Jerry Shaw, is Shia LaBeouf, of course. Jerry is just a man, working a halfway decent job, and trying to keep up on rent, when he receives a phone call from his Mom. What he finds out, is that his twin brother, Ethan, has been killed in a fatal car crash. Jerry is feeling like the world is against him, and his Dad doesn't even seem to love him anymore. That's when he returns home to find his apartment FILLED to the BRIM with boxes full of poison, high tech weapons, and explosives. Then he receives a phone call saying that he has thirty seconds to leave the premises before the FBI arrive to seize him. Well, naturally, he doesn't listen, and he is taken by the FBI, and interrogated, believed to be a terrorist. Now he is stuck, but being questioned non-stop. Soon he is given his phone call, but instead is called himself, and is set free from the FBI, but sent on a wild chase, where he meets Rachel Holloman, who seems to have her own problems, and together they are thrust all over the place, doing objectives that make no sense, and soon they uncover something so massive that it puts the entire nation at risk. Shia LaBeouf, as I've said, has never been one of my favorite actors, but in this movie he has finally redeemed himself for me. I'm definitely a Shia fan, LOL! He does brilliantly, bringing this character to life nicely, playing all of his emotions and problems and such to life. Making them real and believable so that the audience felt a sort of connection with him on a certain level. He was definitely a great casting choice for this movie.

Starring in this film as Rachel Holloman is Michelle Monaghan, who has been in numerous movies that I've seen, and liked. Rachel Holloman is a woman seemingly at the brink of insanity after a divorce. The one true shining light in her life, or the one man who's never let her down as she put it, is her son, whom she loves more than anything. At the beginning of the movie she's seeing her son on to a train where he's heading to Washington D.C. for a Band Tour. Now she has some alone time before she has to go back to work, and she wants to quit worrying about her son, as well as quit thinking about her ex-husband, who can't remember to pay child support, or even remember his own son's birthday. On her night out, she receives a phone call and steps outside the restaurant to take it, and that's when she hears the voice over the phone, telling her to keep walking, and then to look at the McDonald's across the street, where she sees footage of her son throughout the years, and she is told to follow the rules to a car, and her son's train will NOT be derailed. She does it, and sits in the car, when suddenly a man jumps into the car, and as the scuffle, the realize that they're both being controlled by the voice, and soon Rachel is thrust into a cross country trip doing objectives that make next to no sense to them, as well as being incredibly illegal, and begin uncovering something that has the potential to destroy the nation. Michelle Monaghan does a wonderful job in this movie, portraying her character, Rachel Holloway, nearly flawlessly, and bringing all the characters worries about her son, and the fear of doing all of these things for someone whom she can't even see. She really is good at playing a character who seems to be losing her mind. She delivers a performance that you can't help but feel for, as well as relate to in some instances, like worrying for you son, or daughter, and such. She was definitely a great casting choice for this movie.

Rosario Dawson, whom I've liked ever since I saw "Sin City," which was like two and a half months ago (LOL!), stars in this movie as Agent Zoe Perez. Agent Zoe Perez showed up in the FBI offices when Jerry Shaw was brought in for apparently harboring millions of military application terrorist devices. She's here to investigate everything, but what she comes to find is that the lead man at the FBI, Agent Thomas Morgan, doesn't intend to let her question Jerry, but instead demote her authority and tell her to leave, she of course overrides this with her Air Force rank and all that. However, that's when the crane smashes into the office, and Jerry Shaw escapes. Now she heads out with Agent Morgan to try and catch him, but what seems to be happening doesn't make sense, and they eventually give up to regroup. She heads back to Washington D.C. to check up on things, and learn more about Ethan Shaw, Jerry Shaw's brother, because it seems he might have had a hand in all of his brother's terrorist supplies. When she arrives she is suddenly thrust onto his case like new, and learns about what Ethan Shaw actually did, he was a minuteman, assigned to watch over an intelligence gathering supercomputer named "Arya." She begins work with "Arya" so that she can learn more about Ethan Shaw so that they can try and solve the case, and get everything back in order. Rosario Dawson does an excellent job in this movie as Agent Zoe Perez, and delivers her character almost flawlessly, making all of the character's worries, and determination real, and believable, and she makes this a character that you can really feel for, and relate to, in the sense that she goes for what she believes in and doesn't stop. She was definitely a great casting choice for this movie, as well.

Michael Chiklis, whom many know as Ben Grim/The Thing from "Fantastic Four" and "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer," stars in this movie as Defense Secretary Callister. Defense Secretary Callister has a tough decision to make at the beginning of this movie. It seems that they've found a terrorist in the deserts who only resurfaces every two or three years, and there is a fifty one percent chance that this is who they're looking for, but he is hesitation on firing and killing them because it seems they're doing a funeral, and there's the forty nine percent chance that it's not really the guy that they're looking for. What we come to find out is that they didn't get him, and they shot and killed nearly a hundred innocent people. Now the country is getting threats from terrorists, and many suicide bombings, and all because the president ordered that they fire at the group of people. Now the Defense Secretary is trying to solve everything else, while at the same time trying to solve the Ethan Shaw Case. That's when he meets Agent Zoe Perez, well, meets as in meeting, they already seemed to know eachother, and and he decides to bring her fully into the case finally. What he shows her is his "Pride and Joy," the intelligence gathering supercomputer, named "Arya." It's still being beta tested, he says, but it holds information on nearly every person in the world, and he explains also that Ethan Shaw was a minute man, who watched over "Arya" for twelve hour shifts, what was weird, is that he logged out three minutes early, without waiting for the OK from "Arya." Now Agent Perez and Defense Secretary Callister, must crack open this case, and get it solved before the world is put at risk. Michael Chiklis, is actually one of my favorite actors now, and he does brilliantly in this movie, making the character seem like he is the ACTUAL Defense Secretary. He gets all of the characters worries, his actions, and his regard for his country almost perfectly, and makes the character completely convincing, as well as completely believable. He delivers a performance that you can feel for, as well as relate to, in and that he seems to want to protect the lives of everyone in the country, and is tired of all the pressure from the President, as well as all the terrorist attacks. He was definitely yet another great casting choice for this movie.

Billy Bob Thornton, another one of my favorite actors, stars in this movie as FBI Agent Thomas Morgan. Morgan is introduced in this movie when Jerry Shaw is found with explosives, sights, poison, and tons of other military application terrorist devices. He is one hundred percent certain that Jerry Shaw is guilty, but he's also one hundred percent certain that he had help from beyond the grave. By this I mean that he believes that Jerry Shaw was given all of this stuff by will of his late brother, Ethan Shaw. When Agent Morgan has Jerry in custody, and is working on questioning him (Which, Jerry of course knows nothing, but Agent Morgan thinks he's lying, of course, lol), he is met by Agent Zoe Perez from the Air Force base where Ethan Shaw worked, and she demands that she be allowed to question him. Agent Morgan, of course, refuses this, and tries to assert his authority, but that doesn't work since she doesn't work for him, but someone much higher. When he finally agrees to allow her to question him, the entire building is rattled as a construction crane crashes into the side of the building, and Jerry Shaw escapes. Now Agent Morgan is convinced that Jerry is having some help from somewhere else. That's when they notice that there is a woman with him, they frantically try and find out who this woman is, as well as capture both of them, and stop them from what they think will be a massive terrorist attack on the world. It also seems that all the mechanical devices around where Jerry Shaw and the mysterious woman are near go haywire until they're gone, which causes further questions for Agent Morgan, and the rest of the department. His main goal is to capture Jerry Shaw before something massively bad happens to the country. Billy Bob Thornton, as I've said, is one of my favorite actors, and he definitely delivers an awesome performance in this movie, making his character incredibly convincing and believable, bringing out all of his anger at how Jerry Shaw keeps getting away, and also his worries about the countries safety, and his suspicions about what Jerry Shaw's brother, Ethan Shaw, was into. He delivers a performance that is not ONLY convincing and believable, but also makes the character one that you can feel for, and relate to, since he's got so many worries, and problems, and stress, and all of that. He was definitely another great casting choice for this movie.

All in all this was one absolutely amazing movie, as well as a movie that I was not only wrong about, but I was DEAD wrong! I'm so glad that my Editor-In-Chief made me go and see this because it was worth the entire price of the ticket, the large soda, and the box of cookie dough bites that I spent on it. I was literally on the edge of my seat throughout the entire movie! I'm also glad I didn't pass this up to go and see "The House Bunny" for a third time, though I still want to go and see it again because I loved that movie, too, LOL!!!!! Anyway, this movie's directing and writing definitely bring the vision of this incredible movie to life, and this is brought on by the fact that the visuals in this movie are fantastic, as well as realistic for the kind of film it is. The storyline, one that I find to be incredibly original is also very well developed, and definitely makes for one interesting movie. All of this is added to EVEN MORE, if that's possible, by the fact that all of the actors involved in the movie knew exactly what they were doing, and delivered their roles perfectly, giving us characters that were not only convincing and believable, but also characters that you can relate to at various levels, be it from your worries for children, or your sorrow at losing a loved one, as well as characters that you can really feel for as they struggle through what each of them need to accomplish in the movie. If you haven't figured out that this is one hell of a movie, from me, who thought it looked dumb in the first place, than all I have to tell you is to watch it anyway because, like me, you'll most likely be absolutely blown away. This has to be one of my new all time favorite movies, and I'm definitely going to have to buy this as soon as it hits the DVD shelves!!!!!

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