Paramount Pictures
In cinemas and IMAX on 26 September

Considering that “Eagle Eye” has been at the top of many a fall preview (including ours), let’s just assume that we’ve all fed on the same morsels of the plot that spewed forth years ago from the mind of Steven Spielberg. Jerry Shaw (Shia LaBeouf) and Rachel Holloman (Michelle Monaghan) are complete strangers whose actions are quickly dictated by a mysterious female voice on their cell phones. Whether it’s a game or a test or plain old villainy, we don’t know. But the technology that surrounds us is all tied together in that way that makes movies like this so very improbable and terrifying at the same time.

The bulk of the film is all action, watching Jerry and Rachel jump through one hoop after the next as they try to figure out who is pulling their strings and why. There is an epic car chase (quite possibly one of the best I’ve ever seen), a cat-and-mouse game on conveyor belts, and the usual action fare like airplanes flying through tunnels and the like. Director D.J. Caruso’s look for the film is far more bleak than the summery tones of “Disturbia”; there’s a whole lot of grays and blues and what we see in the frame doesn’t make the most aesthetically pleasing images. But, really, this is a concept piece and an action movie…very Spielberg indeed.

Despite it’s sometimes preposterous stunts, “Eagle Eye” is a complete popcorn thrill-ride with a small cast of characters to guide us through its mystery (which may not be a very new concept, but always a fascinating one to watch). We have our two protagonists with interesting (well, for an action movie) back-stories, then the Feds and the government folks played by Billy Bob Thornton, Rosario Dawson and Michael Chiklis become entangled as well and it’s all leading up to….well, you’ll have to see it to find out. It’s totally worth it.