A myopic film, with a blind plot

Eagle Eye
Cast: Shia LaBeouf, Michelle Monaghan
Director: DJ Caruso
Rating: *1/2

This paranoid frenetically paced thriller is all about an all-seeing computer-savvy
national government that loses control of its super computer and ends up as a target.

Taking the Enemy of the State premise to a point beyond believability, director DJ Caruso and his team of writers John Glen, Travis Adam Wright, Hillary Seitz and Dan McDermott, take the action-packed pacy thriller path to overcome the odds.

But it just does not  work. Frankly put, the idea itself is preposterous and too far-fetched to be placed in present times.

The plot is extremely convoluted with cockeyed situations and ridiculously chaotic twists and turns. The narrative is action packed but it’s not there to take the story forward. It is action for action’s sake, aided by a frantic pace.

Both Jerry (Shia LeBeouf) and Rachel(Michelle Monaghan) find themselves ensnared in a cyber conspiracy that defies all logic. The defence department’s all-seeing computer, Aria, chooses them at random to become suicide bombers in a reverse attack against the top 12, holding positions of power in the US. The reason? Its recommendations were overridden by the president, and so, they have to pay the price.

The film is technically sound but the whole concept and idea (credited to Spielberg himself) just does not play true.. Darius Wolski’s camerawork is engaging, the production values and special effects are of high order, even Caruso’s helming is not without energy. But there is so much nonsense in the story that you just don’t enjoy the ride even if you can manage to leave your brains behind, for a while!