EYE IN THE SKY (2016) MOVIE NEWS & REVIEW

eye in the sky (2016) movie

Genre               |   Action Thriller

Classification   |   M

Running time   |   102 minutes

Released         |   7 April 2016

cast

Helen Mirren as Katherine Powell
Alan Rickman as Frank Benson
Aaron Paul as Steve Watts

director

Gavin Hood

writer

​Guy Hibbert ... (written by)

cinematographer

Haris Zambarloukos ​

music

Paul Hepker
Mark Kilian

film editor

Megan Gill

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box office result

Worldwide             $​18,704,595 ​ 

Australia                 $​​n/a​

North America        $​ 18,704,595 ​ 

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the best dialogue

Lt. General Frank Benson: Never tell a soldier that he does not know the cost of war.

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EYE IN THE SKY (2016) IMAGES

EYE IN THE SKY (2016) STORY SYNOPSIS

Colonel Katherine Powell is 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.

EYE IN THE SKY (2016) MOVIE REVIEW

Reviewed by Mark Geraghty   |   Review date 20 March 2016
​Pop Movee Rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐

EYE IN THE SKY is an outstanding, tense drama that explores both the old and the new paradigm of warfare; skilfully cutting between multiple locations in almost real-time to show how today’s soldiers weigh the risk of victory against the public perception of their tactics. Despite the presence of the always-superb Hellen Mirren in the lead role, EYE IN THE SKY boasts a genuine ensemble approach as each character grapples with the dilemma that unfolds before them when mission parameters change and hard decisions need to be made. Director Gavin Hood, who has had his share of criticism for movies like X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE, does an outstanding job with this new film, bringing veteran British screenwriters Guy Hibbert’s story to life on the screen.

Mirren is the linchpin of film, following her character - Colonel Katherine Powell - from before dawn until after dusk on the day of a critical mission to capture a wanted terrorist who also happens to be a British citizen. Powell has tracked her target to Nairobi in Kenya, where the terrorist  and her accomplice husband have arranged to meet with a known local terrorist and two young overseas men who have become radicalised.

In charge of Powell’s mission is General Frank Benson, played by the already sadly-missed Alan Rickman, who is gathered with the Defence Minister and Attorney-General to monitor proceedings and ensure the mission remains within the internationally agreed legal parameters. Integral to the mission is the use of US drone surveillance technology.

Aaron Paul plays Lt. Steve Watts, the drone’s pilot whose role in the second half of the film is critical in maintaining the story’s momentum and balance.

​Without falling into the abyss of contrivance, EYE IN THE SKY manages to create unpredictability by keeping its terrorists at arms length. The story never tries to connect emotionally with them in any fashion and the film is better for it. Their actions appear random and Powell is forced to react to changing circumstances; leading ultimately to a change in the mission objective that places ever character under massive emotional pressure.

The question of what is right and what is wrong is explored throughout EYE IN THE SKY. Only at the end does a peripheral character dare to voice their disgust at what has unfolded. It’s left to General Benson to state the case for the soldier’s cause and, in doing so, makes it clear that despite the film falling on the side of the hawk’s view, the choices made in warfare are among the most harrowing a person can be forced to make. Despite this, Director Gavin Hood’s small role as the US officer in charge of Watts and his co-pilot is the epitome of the soldier’s life when he tells his people that they need to get some rest as they will be needed back at their base in twelve hours time for a new mission. The story makes it clear that there is no respite from the harrowing events of their mission and that they’ll be be needed for potentially equally harrowing mission the next day. 

There is a question mark as to whether or not EYE IN THE SKY is an enjoyable movie. In some parts it is extremely confronting and paints many of its central characters as prone to questionable actions in the prosecution of their mission. The success of the film is in its ability to make the viewer contemplate the morality of what has unfolded before them and consider whether a different outcome could have been achieved. With EYE IN THE SKY, Gavin Hood has taken everything at his disposal (including the excellent script & cast) and delivered a film that must be acknowledged as one if 2016’s outstanding cinematic works.

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