Day 107: Eye In The Sky (2015)

I was truly saddened earlier this year when I heard about the death of actor Alan Rickman (Galaxy Quest). So when I heard he had one more film where he makes a physical appearance (he still has one voice over film to be released), I had to see it and that film is called Eye In The Sky. Col. Katherine Powell (Helen Mirren) is a commanding military officer running an operation to capture or kill terrorists in the African country of Kenya. The latest mission she has features two high profile targets and some suicide bombers so she gets the mission which is a joint one between the Americans, British, and Kenyan special forces ready to go. Well, there is one problem in the whole plan, a little girl selling bread gets in the way of their mission and it sparks a huge debate over who will authorize the strike or not. The film also stars Aaron Paul (Breaking Bad) as Steve Watts, Alan Rickman as LT. Gen. Frank Benson, Babou Ceesay (Severance) as SGT. Mushtaq Saddiq, Barkhad Abdi (Captain Phillips) as Jama Farah, Lex King (The Gamechangers) as Susan Danford, Richard McCabe (The Duchess) as George Matherson, Gavin Hood (Tsotsi) as Lt. Colonel Ed Walsh, and the film was directed by Gavin Hood as well.

Here’s the thing about Eye In The Sky and unless you are into topics like war, drone attacks, etc. then you may not like this film. The film should have had suspense attached to it because it’s more that than thriller. There is a lot of back and forth when it comes time to push the button and I get it if that’s how it actually works, but it’s annoying. There is so much, “hey do we have authorization?” “I don’t want to make that decision, let’s refer up” and “Why are you bothering me, do it”. This goes on for most of the film as Helen Mirren and Alan Rickman’s characters are pleading for them to let them do this. One thing I will say that the film does is that it makes Americans look like we are insensitive cowboys who want to get all of the terrorists no matter the risk. It definitely makes the British look as if they are more sensitive and humane then we are. You’ll have to see it for yourself to know what I am talking about, but like I said not a very exciting film for me. While it is cool to see what happens behind closed doors and to see all the cool camera gadgets they have in the world to spy on people, it just didn’t interest me enough. I am however glad that I did get to see Alan Rickman on screen one more time. So with that being said, I am going to give the film an B- for a final grade.