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THE STUDIO GATE

What a silly movie.

"Eagle Eye" is now available on DVD and Blu-ray disc. This is a review of the Blu-ray.

I know I'm being harsh on the latest Shia LaBeouf action flick. I can appreciate a good, mindless action movie that has things blowing up and people getting fried by falling power lines. I can dig that. Yet if the plot isn't remotely interesting, and if all the characters do is look surprised with mouths agape, something's wrong.

Somehow this script slipped through the cracks at DreamWorks and got Steven Spielberg's blessing. The plot is convoluted as they get. The actors stand around or run with frowns on their faces. Michelle Monaghan can't drive a stick shift, yet she is one hell of a stunt driver. I've given Shia LaBeouf props in the past, even in mediocre movies, but he's doing the same Shia character he's done in all his action flicks.

No sense in me trying to regurgitate the plot, because I lost track of it early on. Something about a secret government woman who tells LaBeouf to duck, run, scream in horror, yell into his cell phone and demolish cars. This is a mindless action movie. I'm supposed to suspend disbelief. But there are more plot devices and tricky characters in this than a Hitchcock film. Director D.J. Caruso did a decent job in ripping off Hitchcock's "Rear Window" with his teen thriller, "Disturbia." At least that movie had some sense to it. "Eagle Eye" doesn't.

The secret plot detail is immediately apparent. That voice the tells LaBeouf to do things like "Simon Says" is the sexy voice of...don't worry. I won't blow it. I mean if you're really interested, then check out "Blu-ray Glimpse" down at the bottom of this page.

The Blu-ray is a bit of mixed bad in quality. It's still very good in picture and sound. The picture quality isn't very sharp, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. It's probably how the director and D.P. wanted it to look. The soundtrack quality is surprisingly subtle. Though there are sequences that are loud, the sound doesn't seem very crisp and clear as normally found in recent action films. The sound also isn't very loud. I found another Blu-ray that just came out, "The Truman Show," to have a better quality soundtrack in soundstaging and loudness.

The idea of sexy mysterious voices calling your cell phone to tell you to, "Get out now!" is intriguing enough. Unfortunately for "Eagle Eye," it's just not that much fun to watch.
        
Bill Kallay

Special thanks to Click Communications

Photos: © DreamWorks. All rights reserved.