Review: Eagle Eye
I was able to see a pre-screening of Shia LaBeouf’s “Eagle Eye” some time ago and I wanted to record some thoughts about it. One thing to note is that I’m not planning on holding anything back so SPOILER ALERT!
Initial Reaction
I though it was an interesting movie with and interesting premise. I very much liked the GLaDOS evil computer (it even looked a bit like GLaDOS with all of her orbs) pulling the strings and utilizing its resources to keep the United States safe. It was an entertaining flick with so much going on you can’t help but pay attention. It was an intriguing combination of “Enemy of the State” and “I, Robot”. After thinking through the movie though . . .
What Disappointed me About the Movie
I was disappointed on many levels with this movie. I was disappointed in the character development in this movie. Everyone would agree that Michelle Monaghan’s character “Rachel Holloman,” didn’t really grow in the movie either. She is a two-dimensional mother to her son, which is a fitting foil for our hero “Jerry Shaw” who doesn’t seem to care about anything including family. But I would submit that our hero “Jerry Shaw” didn’t seem to grow in this movie either. As much as I love happy endings I feel that having a happy ending for this movie killed any chance for overall character development. If Jerry Shaw would have died saving his country, he would have grown. Jerry would have gone from not caring enough about anything to stick to anything, to caring enough about his country and for his brother to not let either go without a fight. But in the end he didn’t almost die to save his country, he died to save his new girl friend. The beginning of the movie you already know that he will expend some effort to impress a girl. He falls in love with her and in the end we are shown that he is a part of her and her son’s life.
This aside, I have other concerns about this movie. Issues this movie brings up are very relevant. You have privacy and artificial intelligence (even more current considering the recent Turing Test), which are two big issues of today. This movie doesn’t attempt to make statements about either. There was ample opportunity but this movie fell short from being a relevant movie contributing to the discussion to simply an action flick. Not that I should be surprised since . . .
What Disappoints me About this Genre
I must say that this entire genre disappoints me. I couldn’t help but think half way through the movie, “This computer is obviously not Three Laws Safe.” When will we get over our, as Asimov would put it, “Frankenstein Complex”? Man makes machine, machine kills/controls man is getting old. I admit it some of it hasn’t been too bad like “Bladerunner” (this actually goes both ways), “Matrix,” or the “Terminator” trilogy+. But really, I would like to see some movies that do better.
… robots, are a subject to which the modern science-fiction writer has turned again and again. There is no uninvented invention … that is so clearly pictured in the minds of so many: a sinister form, … vaguely human, … and speaking with no emotion. The key word in the description is “sinister” and therein lies a tragedy, for no science-fiction theme wore out its welcome as quickly as did the robot. Only one robot-plot seemed available to the average author: the mechanical man that proved a menace, the creature that turned against its creator, the robot that became a threat to humanity. And almost all stories of this sort were heavily surcharged, either explicitly or implicity, with the weary moral that “there are some things mankind must never seek to learn.” — Isaac Asimov “Robots I have Known”
This is as true in our time as it was when Asimov wrote it in the 1950s. Asimov’s solution to this was the “Three Laws of Robotics” which in the end didn’t stifle his ability to write on the subject. I’m tired of these “I, Robot” (which I submit is completely miss named) and “Eagle Eye.” I would like some more intelligent movies that don’t have the “Frankenstein Complex” but show that Robots could really have some of the ideals that humanity is missing/or deficient in. Loyalty, concern for life, and humble service are some of the possibilities.
Well, that is what I thought about “Eagle Eye.”
