Jerry Shaw's (Shia LeBeouf) life takes a drastic turn upon returning to his apartment after his brother's funeral, only to find it full of weapons, explosives and classified military documents. He receives a phone call telling him that the FBI is about to show up and arrest him and that he needs to flee. After he refuses, his hidden benefactor arranges his escape from custody and pairs him with Rachel (Michelle Monaghan), whose son is being used as leverage against her. The pair are driven on a harried race from place to place, with specific instructions to follow and increasingly difficult tasks to perform, all the time being guided by the woman on the phone, who can seemingly see and track them at will.
While watching Eagle Eye, I kept having flashbacks to both War Games and 2001 (for reasons I will not go into for fear of spoiling the plot), but much more modernized. The technology is just viable enough to leave you thinking, "What if..." I found the opening a bit slow-paced, but once the story gets up to speed, it is a wild ride, with lots of visceral action and explosive car chases. While I will not claim to have jumped on the Shia LeBeouf bandwagon just yet, he does a decent and believable job. Michelle Monaghan also turns in a good performance, but for me, the acting gems come from the supporting cast. Rosario Dawson and Michael Chiklis both are wonderful in small roles, but Billy Bob Thornton is fantastic as pseudo-antagonist FBI agent Morgan. I found the entire experience very enjoyable, if somewhat predictable, and do recommend this show to fans of the aforementioned movies or their like.
Eagle Eye 2-Disc Special Edition includes the full theatrical release of the movie plus a laundry list of extras. On disc 1, viewers will find the movie, along with three deleted scenes and a short spot entitled "Road Trip," which chronicles the cast and crew as they move from location to location while filming the feature. I found the three scenes interesting, but they did nothing to enhance the movie and I can see why they were left out. As for the location spot, it will likely only interest hard core fans. Disc 2 features eight special features. The first is an alternate ending to the movie. While a little darker, I was personally happy that they chose the one that was ultimately released in theaters. The second bonus feature is a 25 minute behind-the-scenes look at the making of Eagle Eye. It managed to keep my attention for the first ten minutes or so, but after that, I found myself just watching the timer and waiting for it to end. Again, fans of film-making will, undoubtedly, find it interesting. The third feature is a location piece which attests to the benefits and hazards faced when filming in Washington D.C. There is a short gag reel that is definitely worth watching (due to language, parents should take precaution when viewing), the theatrical trailer and a photo gallery featuring nearly 40 still shots from the movie. The final two features were the most interesting in my opinion; the first, entitled "Is My Cell Phone Spying On Me?", takes a look at some of the technology featured in the film and talks about the validity of some of the assertions made. There are interviews with several experts in the field touching on personal privacy and other issues that arise within the movie. The last feature is a one-on-one documentary style chat between Director DJ Caruso and his mentor, the famed director John Badham. They discuss the similarities with earlier movies, the character development and many other aspects of the movie. I was very engrossed in the short session and will likely watch it at least once more.
Overall, I found this edition of Eagle Eye very satisfying and have no hesitations recommending it to anyone who enjoyed the movie in theaters or who is a fan of the genre.
