Two ordinary individuals who have lead uneventful lives - a copy shop clerk and a single Mum - meet after receiving phone calls from an anonymous woman instructing them to do exactly as she says. Forced into a series of heart-stopping situations, the two strangers face terrible consequences if they fail to follow orders. Using mobile phones, LED signs and television screens to pass on instructions, the mystery woman ensnares the unwitting pair into carrying out a succession of events that are slowly building up to something much bigger than the two can ever imagine. As the situation escalates and they become the nation’s most wanted fugitives, these two ordinary people must work together to discover who is manipulating them and why...

Eagle Eye is a thriller with a technological twist. As the movie's two heroes are thrown together by person or persons unknown, someone seems to have hacked into all of the networks controlling everything from traffic lights and security cameras, to mobile phones and TV broadcasts.

At first it's uncertain whether the mysterious woman (whom I'll refer to as "The Voice" so that I don't give away any of the plot twists) is working for the forces of good or evil.

There's also a bit of a major sticking point with the plot; one so simple I'm surprised that it wasn't addressed a little better on screen. Why didn't The Voice just choose another family who were going to the event to support their child? That way The Voice could organise an all expenses paid trip for the entire family, putting them up in a posh hotel with a a butler who helps them to choose what they will wear at the event. This way the necklace could be added as a special gift for the mother of the family to wear without raising suspicion. Or better still... just make all the kids wear some sort of identification and the jewel could have been hidden in that. Okay, it would have been a short movie, and not very exciting, but it's never explained why Jerry is involved at all. Yes, we know The Voice needs him to perform a simple task, but why not orchestrate something a little clever to bring him to The Voice? Sending him half way around America just complicates the matter. Or, better still, being so technological, couldn't The Voice have synthesised (or mixed together a sentence out of old audio recordings) his brother's voice to do the same job?

I also felt that the source of The Voice was revealed a little too early, and I felt that there was a missed opportunity to have more of a surprise twist - but then, it does help to silence that nagging voice at the back of your head that keeps asking: "How can someone have eyes everywhere?"

I was a little worried that this was going to turn out to be a little like The Matrix. This was mainly as Jerry Shaw's first phone call from The Voice being very reminiscent of Neo's call - but thankfully there doesn't turn out to be another reality hidden within our own. The action sequences move at a break-neck pace - too quickly in some instances - which made me wonder if the editor was trying hard to save poor scenes.

Extras include Deleted Scenes (3 min, 29 sec); Road Trip (3 min 04 sec behind the scenes featurette); Alternate Ending (1 min, 05 sec scene that follows on from where the movie ended. All I can say is thank goodness this was cut); Gag Reel (6 min, 43 sec of outtakes) and a Photo Gallery.

As a movie to not question too much, this is a fun, mindless flick. But once you start to analyse it everything falls apart.

7

Darren Rea