Eye in the Sky

'What if' films are intriguing because they have a tendency to allow the audience to think about what they would do given a similar situation. In other words, what if I did this, would that decision cause that to happen? Or, what would the ramifications be if my decision was this? Fill in the 'this'. These questions are riddled through "Eye in the Sky", where the intensity mounts layer upon layer.

This story stars Helen Mirren as Col. Katherine Powell, a UK-based military officer in command of a top secret drone operation to capture terrorists in Kenya. Through remote surveillance and on-the-ground intel, Powell discovers the targets are planning a suicide bombing and the mission escalates from "capture" to "kill". But as American pilot Lt. Steve Watts (Aaron Paul) is about to engage, a nine-year-old girl, Alia Mo'Allim (Aisha Takow) enters the kill zone triggering an international dispute, reaching the highest levels of US and British government, including Lt. Gen. Frank Benson (Alan Rickman), English Prime Minister Brian Woodale (Jeremy Northam), British Lt. Governor George Matherson (Richard McCabe) and British Advisor Angela Northman (Monica Dolan), over moral, political and personal implications of modern warfare.

Others to round out the cast are Barkhad Abdi as Jama Farah, a ground undercover co-op, Iain Glen as James Willett, Phoebe Fox as Carrie Gershon, Faisa Hassan as Fatima Mo'Allim, Alia's mother, Armaan Haggio as Musa Mo'Allim, Alia's father and Gavin Hood as Lt. Col. Ed Walsh.

This was intensely directed by Gavin Hood ("A Reasonable Man" '99, "In Desert and Wilderness" '01, "Tsotsi" '05, "Rendition" '07, "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" '09, "Tough Trade" (TV movie) '10, "Ender's Game" '13) plus TV. Certainly what helps this director is the fact that he also acts, hence this film, however this concept is not a new one. Other directors such as Woody Allen, Sydney Pollack, Barry Levinson and Angelina Jolie have all walked in those actors shoes. This doesn't always conclude the definition of a talented director--look at Steven Spielberg, he basically cannot act, but is a consummate director. This is Hood's territory, so this wasn't much of a stretch for him. Where this soars is with the writing by Guy Hibbert. What is amazing is that this writer only has one other feature film to his experience -- all the others are made for TV films which there are a plethora of. Obviously he 'cut his teeth' well with TV for him to pull off such a nail-biting, intense screenplay. This script reminds me of the similar scene from "American Sniper" '14, whereas this sniper was faced with what he was going to do, with very little time, to make his decision which could cause relentless ramifications. This film had you, the audience, going back and forth in what had to happen given the time, circumstances, and individuals involved. Alan Rickman, whom gives his last performance before his untimely death, plays off his character teetering between what must occur in these decisions, and is extremely convincing of his role.

This film opens up Pandoras's box in that if this decision is followed through, this awful consequence will happen, however if they choose another decision, another ramification could occur. What IS the best decision, and they have limited time in which to make up their minds. Welcome to a white-knuckle ride.

Out of 4 Stars: 3.5                                  Rated: R                                    102mins.