Nine Hollywood Tropes Moviegoers Loathe: Part Eight

Bad Science

While the nature of my inside knowledge on explosives will remain classified, nothing ruins a scene more than seeing completely erroneous science occur by way of explosives - a staple of action movies. Perhaps the average Joe doesn’t care if a simple pineapple grenade somehow destroys an entire building, but for anyone with an understanding of physics, such sloppy science draws immediate ire.

May I direct your attention to Deep Blue Sea, which - while not exactly Jaws and not exactly a film I’d watch twice - sealed the deal with the final weapon against the uber-intelligent shark fiend about to escape into open ocean. Thomas Jane’s character - cheesily-named Carter Blake - opens two flares and tells inevitable survivor LL Cool J that they contain enough explosive to simulate a stick and a half of dynamite.

I’m sorry, what? If two flares contained enough bang to simulate more than a stick of dynamite, they’d be called dynamite. The latter contains a magical little chemical called nitro glycerin, where flares are made of the mighty phosphorus. Which is...um…not explosive.

The Specialist features a few WTF moments regarding elementary chemistry and physics. Notably at the end, when fat mob boss guy opens a locked the size of my friggin' pinky nail , screams, and then the camera cuts to just outside his house, where you see the whole wing blow up.

Umm, yeah, turns out that even C-4 can only do so much, and causing an explosion akin to a 500-pounder being dropped on a house might be a stretch for even the most scientifically disinclined to buy into.

In a similar fashion, despite being a sweet movie, Eagle Eye presents the same concept with an explosive gem that can magically destroy an area the size of a football field. Outside of a sci-fi novel, earth is governed by weird, immutably laws of physics involving gravity, friction, and the constrains of outward velocity when it comes to explosives.

I don’t pretend to know how it all works, but I can tell you how it doesn’t: the way it works in Hollywood.

"Eagle Eye" on DVD well worth a look.

With Eagle Eye's recent DVD release, it's time you learned the truth about director D.J. Caruso: despite mediocre films like Disturbia and Two for the Money, the man actually can direct.
Of course, it's not direction alone that made Eagle Eye a damn good flick; it was a combination of factors. First, it lacked the transparency of most government thrillers, where your suspect list is sometimes one person long. Eagle remained suspenseful and kept you guessing until the end without much of the black and white aspects of likened films. I'll pick on Executive Decision, though it certainly doesn't stand alone. Will the terrorist annihilate the entire eastern seaboard? Umm, no, they won't. Contrastingly, Eagle keeps its cards hidden with plenty of action and intrigue to maintain interest.
It's been accused of being too fast, actually, but Shia LaBeouf's quips and Billy Bob Thorton's snippiness add flavor and a break from the action. I don't think it ranks as an "exhausting" film at all.
It's likewise been accused of being a little too close to Enemy of the State, though - aside from some camera angles and Big Brother moments - I think they are totally different films with perhaps the same demographic. In other words, I watched Eagle Eye thinking about it, not thinking about Enemy or any other films with "eye in the sky" technology and camera work.
There is a sadness to the characters that I like, as well. Kind of like in The Last Boyscout. There's something about the reluctant hero that we're drawn to, and I certainly felt it with Eagle Eye.
Far be it from me to ruin any nitty-gritty parts with spoilers, but let me just say that what seems an impossibility in the beginning begins to coalesce into a believable (though disturbing) possibility. And I welcome counter-opinions on this, though be sure to precede spoilers with a spoiler notice.
While this only sometimes holds true, I'm going to say that if you watch the preview and liked it - being, in my mind, a very fair representation of the pace and quality of the film, then you'll like the whole movie.