Gee, since when have supercomputers tried to turn on us?
by Keenan Moore
How would it feel if everywhere you went, a monstrous super computer was able to monitor you at all times? In Dream Works new thriller, Eagle Eye, Jerry Shaw (Shia LaBeouf, Transformers) and Rachael Holloman (Michelle Monaghan, Mission Impossible 3) know how it feels.
Jerry Shaw is just your average Joe who lives his life in the shadow of his successful twin brother William (William Sadler, Nothing Sacred). After returning from his brother’s funeral after his unfortunate death, Jerry goes to withdraw money from an ATM only to suddenly realize that he’s a rich man and that there has been a mysterious deposit of three quarters of a million dollars into his account. His fortune is rather short lived though, as upon arrival back in his apartment, he discovers that there is a large weapons cache in his home. He is shortly thereafter arrested by the F.B.I., but not before he receives a mysterious call from a woman alerting him of their presence. While being detained, Jerry Shaw is allowed to have one phone call and, despite his efforts, the woman who earlier alerted him to the F.B.I.’s presence is the only person to whom he can get through.
Ever get the sense of being watched by Big Brother?
This tale of adventure after adventure eventually leads Jerry and Rachael to a secret military base that holds – yep you probably guessed it – a big and all-powerful super computer. We wont spoil the ending for you, but we will give you a hint: it is explosive.
Both Shia LeBeouf and Michelle Monaghan do a good job in staying in character and acting like mice put into a maze. Surprisingly enough, Agent Thomas Morgan (Billy Bob Thornton, Mr. Woodcock) does a really good job of portraying the F.B.I. agent, who always seems to be two steps behind the super computer’s plans and one step behind Jerry and Rachael.
Eagle Eye is a gritty movie that shows the downside to creating super computers that have gained the ability to actually think for themselves. It is actually based on a nightmare of the not too distant future, and how mankind could eventually create things that would most certainly lead to his own demise.
I swear, you think some people would learn from the Terminator movies. I guess not, and as long as these movies based on corrupt super computers continue to draw in the big crowds at the box office, Hollywood will continue to make them…even if the plot is predictable.
This movie just seems to employ cliché after a cliché, and even though it throws a few new twists and turns into the mix, it doesn’t overwhelm the predictability. This movie is not worth the eight-dollar admission ticket, and would best be saved for when it goes onto a cheaper theatre or comes out on DVD.
