Review of Eye In The Sky
Revue of Eye In The Sky
Initial release; April 1, 2016
Directed by: Gavin Hood
The movie is about decision making. An operation to capture Al-Shabab terrorists turns on its head when circumstances demand a kill strike. The civilians however do not find it so easy to reach that decision and as such keep vacillating while the situation gets more complicated. The choice is whether or not to strike taking into account the collateral damage that would be a fallout of the strike.
Alan Rickman stars as the general, who urges the politicians allow the soldiers do their job. Helen Mirren is in charge of the operation, and pushes situational ethics to their limit in a bid to ensure that the civilians do not cause, by their hesitation, a greater calamity than they are trying to avoid. The British politicians are not cast in very good light, and they avoid making decisions for selfish reasons. The Americans are however quite decisive. The conflict between legal and political arguments was also particularly interesting to me.
The casting for me was superb. I must admit a bias for Alan Rickman, who was one of my favourite British actors, and Helen Mirren needs no introduction. Aaron Paul is very convincing as the drone pilot who has the unfortunate role of pulling the trigger. It was great to see Barkhad Abdi (“look at me… I am the captain now” #CaptainPhillips) pull off another commendable performance. I also applaud the introduction of lesser known South African TV stars from Isidingo and Jacob’s Cross for less important roles.
The movie was intense without being stomach churning, and also offered sufficient occasions of humour to lighten tense situations. I had quite a laugh as Alia, the bread selling Kenyan girl, was constantly referred to as Jumoke by my fellow movie watchers. It however ends on a somber note, and Alan Rickman’s last words to one of the politicians strikes me as quite poignant … “Never tell a soldier that he does not know the cost of war”.
I would rate this movie 7.5/10. All round I think it was a very good film. Conflict, humour, verisimilitude, suspense, use of gadgets… the whole works. Definitely a very good film.
If you liked, “Good Kill” Starring Ethan Hawke, you will like “Eye In the Sky”.
What are your thoughts? Let me know by posting your comments below.
Review Contribution by Noel Orji
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