Eye In The Sky - Review

Eye In The Sky

Plot summary:

After receiving news from the Deputy Chief of the Defense Staff – Lieutenant General Frank Benson – that a colleague of hers who had been undercover had been executed by the terrorist group known as Al-Shabab, Colonel Katherine Powell conducts a capture mission for key members of the Al-Shabab group who are due to have a meeting in the suburbs of Nairobi, Kenya. The mission is a joint operation between America, Britain, and Kenya, and is codenamed Operation Egret. The meeting is believed to be a transit to recruiting two new members to Al-Shabab. The situation gets complicated when it is revealed by a miniature drone, in the form of a bug that was flown into the house that Al-Shabab plans for assigning these two new recruits on two suicide bombing missions. There are discussions and debates on whether the mission’s purpose should or should not be shift from capture to assassinate, given the new circumstances. And the situation grows even more complicated when a little girl enters the kill-zone, giving rise to an even greater moral and political discussion, all while losing time.

Review:

This movie delves deep into debates on the moral complexities regarding modern warfare in missions such as these where collateral damage has to be taken into consideration. It focuses on weighing the options and making the hard choices – all what a soldier would have to make the call on. Whether or not it’s worth risking the lives of many just to spare the life one, and whether or not their decisions will fuel propaganda in their favour. Are the lives of a large amount of people really worth sacrificing in order to win just the propaganda war? This is all brought up well in this movie. It also gives us a glimpse into how life would be for people under the rule of terrorist groups such as Al-Shabab.

And this is all backed up by some strong acting. The political and bureaucratic characters, of which most seems to want to save their reputations rather than save lives – who’d rather pass on the responsibility onto someone else to save their own hide, and then the drone pilot, Steve Watts(Aaron Paul) and sensor operator, Carrie Gershon(Phoebe Fox) who are met with the moral dilemma of having to choose whether or not to sacrifice the life of a child. Not to mention the superb acting by Helen Mirren(Colonel Katherine Powell) and Alan Rickman(General Frank Benson).

This movie really built the tension well and kept the suspense going on at all times. And the music greatly assisted in bringing out the nail-biting experience. And of course I can’t leave out the impact of the dialogues which played a part in not only bringing out the anxiety and intensity of situations, but also in the mentality of one who’d be in a situation such as this. I’d say the plot was followed through well with the series of events that surrounded it. This is definitely a riveting movie.   

Check out the trailer:

Eye in the Sky Official North American Trailer (2015)

Get the movie from the link below:
Eye in the Sky