Remember the movie WarGames?  That movie showed you new technology in a way that awed you.  Sure, its 16-inch floppy disks seem silly 25 years on.  But at the time, it was amazing.  Whether it was the way he hacked a pay phone or used a tape recorded to unlock a door or simply the first time you saw someone use a modem; the movie was a revelation and it heightened the tension because even though the situations were ridiculous, it felt grounded in reality.  Eagle Eye has none of that.  It aims to be a smart political thriller that comments on our increasingly techno-centric society.  Well, I aimed to be a professional Playboy photographer.  We were both equally successful.

Jerry Shaw, played by Shia LaBeouf, is a slacker, especially when compared to his over-achieving twin brother.  Shortly after his brother dies (it’s not a spoiler, it happens in the first ten minutes) he receives a mysterious phone call.  The woman on the other end begins issuing him orders.  He quickly finds out that she has almost godlike control over technology.  She can control TV screens and stoplights; she can stop trains and subway cars.  She makes it abundantly clear that if Shaw doesn’t do what she says, he will die.   Shaw is thrown in with Rachel Holloman, played by Michelle Monaghan.  She’s a single mother that’s also been ensnared by the mysterious phone calls.  She’s out to safe herself and her son. 

Shia LaBeouf has been anointed this generation’s “everyman action hero”.  But he’s yet to make a truly exciting film.  His closest was Disturbia.  And that was Rear Window retread.  Sure, he’s had hits but who wouldn’t if they were starring in movies like Transfomers or Indiana Jones & The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull.  It seems to me that he needs to star in actual good movie and fast.  He’s got talent but the streets of Hollywood are littered with people that have talent but can’t pick a script.

Eagle Eye could serve as a drinking game for cinephiles: simply take a drink every time you see this movie rip off another movie.  2001: A Space Odyssey, North by Northwest, he Man Who Knew Too Much, The Fugitive, Enemy of the State and that’s just off the top of my head.  I honestly don’t think anyone could survive.

The action is big and the edits are quick.  Once the action kicks in, it goes non-stop for about half an hour.  However, once the move stops to take a breath you realize how little sense any of this makes.  Eagle Eye desperately wants to be a cautionary tale about technology and the loss of civil rights.  The only problem is that movie is so entirely, utterly implausible that it ultimately ends up being a stronger argument for the other side of the equation.  When it comes to showing us the dangers of technology, there isn’t one thing this films shows us that doesn’t seem preposterous even in today’s world.  Perhaps if the film had been set 20 years in the future it might have at least felt possible.  But as it is, the whole thing just feels silly.

The movie spends the bulk of its time building to the “big reveal”.  Who is behind these phone calls and how do they know so much and have so much control?  When the answer finally comes, all you can do is groan.  But the production values are stellar and the stunt work is exciting.  There’s just no screenplay to back it up.

On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being North By Northwest and 1 being Bad Company, Eagle Eye gets a 4.