Synopsis:
Eye in the Sky stars Helen Mirren as Colonel Katherine Powell, a UK-based military officer in command of a top-secret drone operation to capture terrorists in Kenya. Through remote surveillance and on-the-ground intel, Powell discovers the targets are planning a suicide bombing and the mission escalates from “capture” to “kill.” But as American pilot Steve Watts (Aaron Paul) is about to engage, a nine-year old girl enters the kill zone, triggering an international dispute reaching the highest levels of US and British government over the moral, political, and personal implications of modern warfare.
What We Thought:
Eye in the Sky gave me the exact opposite emotions that the film was aiming for. The film wants you to question the use of drones and drone warfare, but I don’t question it at all. In fact, I support it.
Helen Mirren is in England watching terrorists in Kenya with the help of Americans in Las Vegas. There are some Kenyan supporters on the ground as well, but they are more support for the drone than soldiers. Although there are Kenyan soldiers on stand by in the beginning when it was a capture mission.
It turns into a kill mission when suicide bombing vests are spotted. She wants the go ahead to strike the building with a missile to kill major terrorists and to destroy the vests. Of course politics come into play and it takes many rungs up the ladder to finally get an answer to fire because of possible casualties of war.
The people involved are trying to decide if the life of one young girl is possibly worth losing if they can take out high target people and prevent suicide bombings. They argue and bicker and no one wants to make the call. They pass off the decision to higher ups who don’t want to decide either. I sat there wondering why politicians were watching military operations and why they had a say in what was happening.
The film wants you to get an upfront and personal look at drone strikes. Before, we used fighter jets to shoot targets from miles away without close up pictures. There were no faces seen. It was impersonal. You didn’t see who you were killing. With drones you see faces, actual people before firing at them. It’s personal. The “pilot” of the drone and the soldiers in Las Vegas questioned firing the missile because of the girl. I find that hard to believe. You’re a soldier, you know your job.
The only thing that made me sad in the film was seeing the late Alan Rickman. He left us too soon and this is one of his last films. He was brilliant.
The Blu-ray looks great in HD. The Kenyan backdrop has muted, desert colors. The drone visuals looked good. Audio had easy to hear dialogue and good sound effects. It has some decent bonus features as well.
It may sound like I didn’t like Eye in the Sky, but I actually did. It’s a well made and extremely well acted film. I may not have felt the message it wanted, but I still liked the film. It’s a taut drama with good tension and shows how we fight battles today. It reminded me a lot of Good Kill and had elements of other films like Zero Dark Thirty. Plus it was nice to see Alan Rickman again. I may not agree with its message, but I quite liked the film itself. Because of that, it is…
RECOMMENDED!
Bonus Features:
- Perspectives: Examining the Ethical Conflicts of Drone Warfare
- Morals: Exploring the Deeper Questions Raised in the Film
Cast & Crew:
- Alan Rickman
- Helen Mirren
- Aaron Paul
- Gavin Hood
- Iain Glen
Recommended If You Like:
- Good Kill
- Zero Dark Thirty
- Military Dramas
The Nerds Templar 