Eagle Eye - Spoiler inside but you'll be given an opportunity to bail.

[quade 4]

An interesting enough initial premise.

A guy is called on his cell phone as he enters his apartment. In his apartment are all the tools of a terrorist and he's told to leave immediately because the FBI will be there in 30 seconds to arrest him if he doesn't. He doesn't and they do. Meanwhile, a mother is seeing her child off to "band camp" in Washington DC. Later that night she's out with "the girls" and gets a call on her cell phone telling her that if she doesn't do what "they" say, they are going to kill the child. "They" make an escape possible so the guy can get away from the FBI. "They" coordinate events so the guy and mother meet.

Chases ensure all under control of the voice on the phone.

Sounds like a nice little political/spy thriller eh?

Like I said, nice enough initial premise, but the movie ultimate didn't deliver for me and I'll tell you why after the spoiler alert.








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Spoiler Alert! Bail out now if you like surprises!
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Like I said, ultimately the movie doesn't deliver and here's why . . . (sigh) . . . the voice on the end of the phone is a computer.

Ok, we've seen computers take over the world before, a couple of times in fact; Wargames, Terminator . . .

This is, hack, it's sci-fi hack of the worst kind too. Rather than be original here's a couple of things that they did that I simply couldn't get past and so they ultimately lost me as an audience member and turned me against the movie.

1) Guy that will be in charge of the computer at the time it decides to go nuts; BOWMAN. As in the character DAVE Bowman, the final crewman from 2001.

2) Computer has a RED EYE. Picture HAL from 2001. Yes, EXACTLY like that.

3) When some of the characters figure out that the computer has gone nuts, they step into a sound proof briefing room, cut the phone and internet connections and . . . the computer starts to read lips (just like 2001).

4) Bowman eventually starts pulling hard drives. It's at this point I actually got loud in the movie theater and asked if the computer was going to start singing "Bicycle Built for Two."

OK, so here's "HAL" the sentient super computer hooked into every telephone call, security camera, internet connection, basically EVERYTHING with a computer in it . . . and the reason it's called "Eagle Eye" is because it has to read all this via some goofy IR interface that lines the walls of the computer room. THAT'S why it has the big glowing RED HAL eye.

Grrr . . . WTF?

By the time HAL is killed (sadly, without singing a single note) events are already set into motion and the guy and gal need to save the world.

Eventually the guy under the control of the voice runs into the House of Representative where the President is giving the State of the Union address and to stop the place from being bombed he fires some shots into the air. Security shoots him, many, many times . . . he falls down into a pool of blood.

Seemingly later that day (but I'll give them that it could be weeks or even months later), the guy and the mother of the kid get together and live happily ever after.

Why? Why did the guy live? It actually would have been a MUCH better movie if the guy died. THEN there would have been a POINT to the thing.

WTF?!?





I'm so disappointed.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[birdlike 0]

Quote

Like I said, ultimately the movie doesn't deliver and here's why . . . (sigh) . . . the voice on the end of the phone is a computer.

HOLY FUCKING SHIT!!

I was thinking that when I watched the previews!!

I haven't seen the movie, and since it looked like run-of-the-mill Hollywood schlock, I didn't plan to see it until it was free at the library. So I read ahead and looked at your spoiler, and I have to say that, honest to god, I had thought of that already!!

Man, I'm good!

Spirits fly on dangerous missions
Imaginations on fire

[birdlike 0]

Why are you disappointed, Quade? Are you going to tell me that you thought (for some inscrutable reason) that this might end up being a good movie??

From the first time I saw the trailer, I knew that it would not be.

As for the ridiculous triple ripoff of 2001, that's either a really clumsy failure to be original, or a really clumsy and ham-handed "homage." Either way, it was someone's poor judgment at the writing/directing end that caused it to remain in the film.

Spirits fly on dangerous missions
Imaginations on fire

[quade 4]

Quote

Why are you disappointed, Quade? Are you going to tell me that you thought (for some inscrutable reason) that this might end up being a good movie??

I needed a "popcorn" movie to end a horrible work week. It didn't need to be "great" but it needed to take me away and forget crap.

Quote

From the first time I saw the trailer, I knew that it would not be.

As for the ridiculous triple ripoff of 2001, that's either a really clumsy failure to be original, or a really clumsy and ham-handed "homage." Either way, it was someone's poor judgment at the writing/directing end that caused it to remain in the film.

Oh, I'll agree to that. I can't believe it was in there to begin with. THAT'S what lost me. A single reference would be cool inside stuff. Chaining so many together means it was absolutely intentional and if you do something intentional in a movie, you better be sure what you're doing is intentionally right rather than ending up as unintentionally stupid.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[futuredivot 0]

Thanks for the head's up. My wife and I saw the commercial for Eagle Eye and I commented that I wish that movie promos told you something about the movie. They should be like the blurbs on a book jacket so you can decide if you're interested or not.

You are only as strong as the prey you devour

[auburnguy 0]

http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/upgrade/4284897.html

"If you don't like your job, you don't strike! You just go in every day, and do it really half assed. That's the American way."
- Homer Simpson