Review: Eye in the Sky

"Never tell a soldier that he does not know the cost of war." 
-- Lieutenant General Frank Benson (Alan Rickman)

As a fan of epic fantasy stories, the son of an army officer, and a Christian, the role of war has been an issue I've had to grapple with my entire life. Sure, people around the world are conflicted on the morality of war, but just as many -- if not more -- see violence as a necessary evil in the pursuit of the greater good.

Eye in the Sky, from South African director Gavin Hood, does an exemplary job of presenting a clash of ideologies. Multiple viewpoints on conflict, casualties, collateral damage and politics are brought forward and substantiated, but none are presented as the definitive answer to the questions raised in war. This is cemented in the film's ending: rather than follow Hollywood formula and create a "new stability" (that is, a final way of solving the conflict of the story), Eye in the Sky leaves the audience hanging, because the ideological conflicts within this thriller haven't been solved.

Of course, these debates would be pointless if we had no dramatic buy-in, and the good news is that Eye in the Sky is also a tremendous story, well told. In any other decade, it would be a visionary science-fiction yarn, similar in dramatic scope and "big ideas" to the book behind Hood's previous film, Ender's Game. Today, with the exception of some visual shorthand for the benefit of the audience, it is instead a very contemporary story dealing with real world issues and realistic technology.

Taking place all around the world, Eye in the Sky centres on a mission to capture Al-Shabaab extremists in Nairobi, Kenya. Colonel Katherine Powell (played by Helen Mirren) commands from Northwood Headquarters in England; pilot Steve Watts (Aaron Paul) in Nevada flies a drone as the titular "eye in the sky"; and Jama Farah (Barkhad Abdi) works on the ground in Nairobi for undercover surveillance, among dozens of other characters including the late Alan Rickman's Lieutenant General who supervises the mission from London.

At first, the expansive stage and large cast feels very Steven-Soderbergh-ian, particularly like Contagion. As the situation on the ground develops, the protagonists are forced to make more and more difficult decisions. Discussions about ethics, politics and the chain of command are so tense that it begins to feel more like 12 Angry Men.

One could be concerned that as a thriller the story gets bogged down in these politics and turns into the dreaded "people talk in rooms" kind of drama that bad imitators of 12 Angry Men might produce -- but the quality of acting and firm grasp of visual storytelling is actually more comparable to sci-fi anime like Ghost in the Shell. This is probably not an accidental similarity as Japanese movies have explored drones and the dehumanisation of war for decades. For the same reason, Eye in the Sky comes in highly recommended to fans of Metal Gear Solid.

The movie is not, however, easily recommended to audiences seeking escapism, and nor should it be. The aforementioned open ending is going to be a turn-off if one expects a perfect resolution, but that is part of the point. Eye in the Sky is solid, thrilling entertainment with an effective original score to boot, but like some of the best science fiction it is equally interested in exploring questions of humanity and ethics that might not have definitive answers. It just so happens to be less science fiction and more science fact.

For accomplishing everything it set out to do, Eye in the Sky gets 5 / 5 stars.