As drone missions become ever more popular, Eye in the Sky expertly explores the moral, political and tactical decisions that go into pulling the trigger.
It’s a political quagmire and a moral quandary, but it’s a tactical no-brainer, which should arguably make the former two decisions if not easy, then certainly easier. Boots on the ground cause no end of trouble; getting them there is hard enough; firefights are tactically deadly; and troops killed overseas are a huge political mess. So planting a laser-guided smart bomb in the middle of a cabal of high value targets seems the cleanest, most efficient, and most effective solution.
Sure, there’s a risk of collateral damage, but there’s a greater risk of collateral damage going in on foot, and a huge problem if the high value targets are left to escape, with the ripple effect causing damage 100-fold, maybe even 1,000-fold. But there’s also an argument that one life lost is one too many.
With Helen Mirren’s Colonel guiding the mission, a simple drone ‘watch’ in Kenya quickly turns into chaos, as British and American politicians muddy the waters and shirk any decision-making in favour of passing the buck upwards. Even the late Alan Rickman (in an excellent final role) struggles to deal with the political (and legal) cowardice, whilst Aaron Paul’s drone pilot allows his own conscience to further muddy the waters, and man-on-the-ground Barkhad Abdi tries his best to keep casualties to a minimum, even putting his own life on the line.
Director Gavin Hood’s Eye in the Sky follows a similar path to the Ethan Hawke thriller Good Kill, but instead of following on the sustained ongoing damage done to the pilot of dozens of missions, it takes a gripping look at the significant effect of just one mission.
Director Gavin Hood’s Eye in the Sky follows a similar path to the Ethan Hawke thriller Good Kill, but instead of following on the sustained ongoing damage done to the pilot of dozens of missions, it takes a gripping look at the significant effect of just one mission.
Taut and expertly crafted, Eye in the Sky looks at the ramifications of a single drone strike
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