Having worked together on the sleeper hit Disturbia, as well as the blockbuster Transformers, star Shia LaBeouf and director J.D. Caruso have proven to be quite the team. But with each new film, a new adventure begins; and there is no exception when it comes to Eagle Eye, a fast-paced adventure that will have you on the edge of your seat form beginning to end.
In the film, Shia LaBeouf plays Jerry Shaw, a struggling twin who hasn't been near his family in years. When word comes that his brother, a government official, has been killed in a car accident, a roller-coaster ride of emotion and turmoil begins to form.
On the other side of town, divorced-mother of one Rachel Holloman is living her life in chaos. Played to utter perfection by the brilliantly talented Michelle Monaghan, Holloman seems confused with the direction that her life is taking as she continues to go through the motion, never venturing far outside of the box.
But when these two total strangers receive a mysterious phone call, both are sent on a wild expedition. Threatening their lives and family, both Jerry and Rachel must obey their every order, no matter how dangerous or illegal they become. In the process, both innocent pedestrians become the country's most sought after fugitives as they work together to discover what they are doing, who is on the other end of the phone, and most importantly, what lies at the end of this puzzle of rampage and deceit.
Derived from master-mind Steven Spielberg, Eagle Eye had great potential from the very beginning. However, over the course of the last few months, most films with recognizable names have proved to be both bland and over-hyped. Luckily, this one delivers in high fashion. From the non-stop action to the constant guessing game, audiences ride along with the film's stars, transforming into a passenger on-screen and joining the actors as they continuously plunge into the unknown.
For once, the action-filled scenes run together smoothly as they tell a smart and complex story with amazing precision, selling itself on its characters, its intensity and ultimately, its ability to make you think.
But with that said, there is one thing that almost ruined the entire film for me "“ and that is its last three minutes. After almost two hours of heart-pounding, spine-tingling action, the film takes a nose dive after revealing a seemingly perfect ending. The story is done and the characters have all been explained; yet, for some reason, the film continues for a few more painstaking minutes. And while many will feel that the added minutes helps to create a calmer, more serene feeling for the film, I have to harp on the fact that with the additional time, the realistic perception that the film works so hard to create is quickly lost as a distant memory.
Thankfully, I have been able to slightly block those concluding minutes from my mind as I focus on the first 115 that literally took my breath away. For in the long run, few films are made with such intensity and articulate precision that it becomes hard to harp on it for not understanding just how great of a thing they had going. And with that said, I feel that Eagle Eye could have scored a solid A+ rating, but must be punished to a good but not stellar B+.
