Eye In The Sky (2016) - The Misunderstanding!

★★★★☆

‘Eye In The Sky’ is one of those rare dialogue-driven films of anti-terrorism that manage to hold your breath throughout without tedious shoot-outs or explosions. To my memories, the last film of such kind that impresses me so is ‘Zero Dark Thirty’ where the focus is to capture terrorist leader Bin Laden. Here the focus is seemingly some crazy suicide bombers but in fact a little innocent girl that triggers struggles among officials to make a decision that is militarily right but ethically wrong. Yeah, we do have a choice! It’s just that it’s so hard sometimes to make the so-called right decision that we feel like we’ve got no choice at all!

The situation may seem a bit complicated at first as the commander is in England, the drone pilot is in America, and the terrorist is in Kenya. The story is however, not confusing or out of focus as it goes, plus some plot twists to engross. The film feels like a true story though it’s all made up, all thanks to the intense and gripping screenplay, and convincing performances by Helen Mirren and the memorable Alan Rickman! Not sure if this is his last performance in a film before his death but no doubt he’s one of the few that is able to get under your skin and get you high at the same time with his acting!

As you might’ve realized that there’s suicide bombing taking place every once in a while around the world, and innocent civilians suffering the most, I wonder when things like this could eventually come to an end. Sure it would never, if we keep getting the wrong idea like terminating some terrorist leaders could end it once and for all. I guess the crux of the problem is the misunderstanding that we’re not misunderstood! We’re doing it all because we believe that it’s right and just, and the opposite party’s wrong and evil. Like said in the opening of the film that in war, truth is the first casualty. The truth is, we’re seeing no truth, not only in war but in everything. We merely see what we want to see as always. Nothing is really right or wrong to our mind of dualism, except for killing a sentient being that is universally nothing right about!