Film Review- Eye in the Sky

For me, Eye in the Sky is the biggest surprise of 2016 thus far. 

Made for under 20 million dollars, the film's marketing was minimal and its release was originally limited to small amount of theatres across the U.S. From what I had seen of the movie, I expecting some form of popcorn action/war film. However what I got was one of the best and most tense thrillers of the 2010's which leaves you second guessing the outcome from beginning to end, with inventive direction and quality acting sprinkled on top for good measure. 

Essentially the plot revolves around an operation to capture extremists in Kenya. Colonel Powel (Helen Mirren) leads the operation, with a variety of other military personnel and government officials involved. However, the mission takes a turn when the objective changes from "capture" to "kill", and a political, legal and moral debate rages as a young girls life hangs in the balance.

Firstly, Eye in the Sky really in a perfect example of how to write an ensemble. There are over 15 central characters in the film, and each of them feel perfectly services and fleshed out, giving each member of the cast a lot to play with. Aaron Paul, Batkhad Abdi, Iain Glen, Jeremy Northam, Richard McCabe, Monica Dolan and young Aisha Takow are all very strong in their roles, with some (such as Dolan) bringing real strength and gravitas to what could have essentially been a throwaway part in the hands of another actor. However, special mention has to be made to the two all-time greats who deliver some of their finest work in this film: Helen Mirren and the late Alan Rickman. Both portray hardened soldiers, both veterans of war. Mirren is the slightly hotheaded Colonel, hot on the trail of a woman she has hunted her entire career. Mirren perfectly illustrates the Colonel's desire to silence this threat, all the while without making her character unrelatable. Rickman plays a similar part, and some of his most brilliant work here comes when he clashes with Monica Dolan's idealistic MP (especially in a scene near the film's end where Dolan questions whether Rickman's General understands the costs of the decisions he's made that day). Rickman was a class act, and that is more than evident in what will be remembered as one of his last performances. 

Yet, this film is only complimented by the great work of its actors. The truly impressive thing about Eye in the Sky is the way that it has been filmed. Director Gavin Hood use of the camera in this film is great. Characters are mostly shot at very close quarters, tricking the audience into sympathising with each of them, which in turn makes the audience feel emotionally torn with regards to decision they have to make. Alternatively, his use of shots from the drones point of view make us look at the situation from a much more practical lens, allowing the audience to form their own opinions on the situation at hand. There is a point near the end where Hood quickly switches between these two perspectives and, combined with a timely use of sound, easily creates the film's most visually powerful moments. Six years on from the unequivocal failure that was "X-Men Origins: Wolverine", Hood has put himself on the map as an extremely impressive visual storyteller who and a man who can sprinkle absolutely beautiful moments of humanity into his work.

I did have one minor criticism of the film in that I felt it's ending should have been more ambiguous. While I do think it did do a good job in wrapping up each of these character's stories nicely (especially in the case of Alan Rickman's character), I do feel it should have left the ultimate fate of young Alia up in the air, as the emotional crux of the movie up until that point was whether to take a gamble with her life or not. I feel that not to have seen what the result of that gamble was would have been far more impactful and would have left me as a filmgoer mulling over the consequences of these characters decisions more than I actually did leaving the theatre.

This aside, Eye in the Sky really is a gem of a movie. Gavin Hood's direction is so strong and his storytelling so subtle that it makes even the film's less tension filled moments still wonderfully entertaining. Little moments like Alan Rickman looking in a toy shop for the "correct" Annabelle doll or Iain Glenn rushing to the loo due to a bad bout of food poisoning really humanise the characters for western audiences, while our time spent with Alia in Kenya as she plays with her hoola-hoop in secret remind us just how lucky we really have it. Overall, it is an emotionally interactive roller-coaster that will have you questioning you're own moral compass constantly throughout.

Score: 8.9/10