Director: Gavin Hood.
Starring: Helen Mirren, Alan Rickman, Aaron Paul, Barkhad Abdi, Iain Glen.
Eye In The Sky is a tense thriller with high pressure having you constantly change camps thinking 'well, they do have a point.' Should they or shouldn't they? Whilst the trigger finger hangs over the firing button. Innocent lives, as does your attention, hang in the balance during the constant moral battle of people fighting for a decision, deflecting blame and responsibility. It has you on edge almost to a frustrating level while and it's more about the dilemmas and struggles the people involved have to contend with, as oppose to terrorists v the world. Interestingly, it gives you a little personal peek at the key players making them all the more real adding a profound humility unlike any other film of it genre. The Secretary of State is playing ping pong with the Chinese, The Lt. Gen. Has bought the wrong baby toy and the Foreign Secretary is seen suffering from food poisoning whilst ironically presenting some British Tech coincidently named IBS. My money's on majority of people growing angry at particular characters, (not naming names) whilst rooting for others and it begs the question, what would you do? The lesser of two evils? Pass the buck? Or worse, being the one to pull the trigger, would you? You can see the emotional impact it has on everyone as the pace of the film quickens and it's not slow in any case. Gavin Hood does a brilliant job, especially with only the six weeks afforded to him for shooting. It is a shame I haven't found him that consistently good with his previous films, like X-Men Origins: Wolverine. His acting isn't bad either; he plays the American Lt. Col. Walsh. Mirren and Rickman, in his final role, are, as expected, brilliant and the rest of the cast follow orders incredibly well. Breaking Bad's Aaron Paul is amazing as the hellfire trigger finger and we see Game of Thrones' Mormont, Iain Glen having toilet issues. Ignoring the big names, the whole cast does an a amazing play and it's so good to again see Barkhad Abdi from Captain Philips. Though the film is filled with tense silence the score from Hepker/Kilian is noticeable and does well in evoking the moody atmosphere. Another mention is Colin Firth, who helped produce the movie and alas a good farewell to the late and talented Alan Rickman who will always be held in high regard by all those who worked with him and those who watched him. It's key strong points are the story and script, both excellently writing and executed on screen, a must see for tense, decision-making, thriller fans which leaves you debating if anyone is ever right in these situations. No pressure!
Running Time: 9
The Cast: 9
Performance: 10
Direction: 9
Story: 10
Script: 10
Creativity: 7
Soundtrack: 8
Job Description: 10
The Extra Bonus Point: 5 for the whole cast, everyone played their part incredibly well.
87% 9/10
