by Frank Calvillo
I can only speak for myself, but I for one am getting just a little exhausted of seeing superhero movies act as allegories for times of war by using the colorful graphics, sequences full of effects, and overpaid actors spouting out a collection of one-liners. Oftentimes their underlying ideology tends to fall flat in the jumble of all the onscreen spectacle. Give me a true film about war, rich in characterization and suspense. An answer to this prayer has come arrived in the form of Eye in the Sky, a tale of nail-biting action, which is also a telling depiction of what those who live with war must face every day.
In Eye in the Sky, British Colonel Katherine Powell (Helen Mirren) is tasked with capturing a former British citizen who has proven herself to be part of a terrorist group in Kenya. Aided by American Air Force pilot (Aaron Paul), a Kenyan soldier (Barkhad Abdi), and under the watchful eye of a British Lt. General (Alan Rickman), the drone-led mission looks to go off without a hitch. But when it is revealed that the group is planning a suicide bombing, the capture becomes a mission to kill. However, when a young girl (Aisha Takow) selling loaves of bread enters the vicinity of where the drone is set to drop its missile, the future of the whole operation is thrown into question.
One of the things I found to be most impressive about Eye in the Sky is the way it balances its multi-strand narrative. The architecture of this film is a tricky one for sure, with continuous switching between England, America, China, and Kenya, each with their own set of characters. The obvious trap with so many locales and people would be to spend too much time with some, while short changing the others. And yet writer Guy Hibbert and director Gavin Hood have crafted a story that avoids this at all costs. Action and dramatic tension between the different parties are evenly spread out, with all the characters being allowed proper time to breathe. Moreover, regardless of whether or not characters are trying to avoid getting caught by soldiers in Kenya, or are sitting around in a room debating a course of action, the suspense never lets up for a single minute.
Movies dealing in war oftentimes have a difficult line to walk. They have to provide enough action-driven scenes to satisfy genre fans while also providing telling social commentary throughout. Most often fail. Eye in the Sky proves the exception as it beautifully mixes the personal and the political to powerful effect. The question of whether or not to save the young girl’s life or proceed with dropping the missile on the group of terrorists is one which plagues each of the central characters in various forms, each of whom find themselves questioning what is the right thing to do. Do they save the girl and let the group go where they will unleash their bombs, potentially killing many children? Or do they try to buy time in the hopes that the young girl will get out of the line of fire? The emotional and logical ramifications of such a decision swiftly extend to the audience who likewise find themselves somewhat at a loss with regard to what they would do given the impossible choice.
There isn’t a single performer who isn’t at the top of their game throughout Eye in the Sky. Each actor proves a standout, with Mirren’s steely determination, Paul’s conflictedness, and Abdi’s quiet reserve commanding the screen. Meanwhile, notable character actors Jeremy Northam, Iain Glen, and Michael O’Keefe add some definite color to the proceedings. Special acknowledgment must be given to Takow (doing an exceptional job) and of course to Rickman, who naturally turns in solid work in what is his final onscreen performance.
Movies about war seldom go down easy. The characters are usually affected in one way another by their actions, and the audience, for better or worse, are always left conflicted and/or impassioned by what they’ve just witnessed on the screen. Such experiences aren’t meant to be pleasant, but in the end, its the only way to do right by the genre. Eye in the Sky provides these very results, proving it’s potent effectiveness as a film about war and, most importantly, the human conflict that comes with it.
