Eye In The Sky

Eye In The Sky is what an Indian would call a typical ‘commercial’ film. The film is set in modern day Hong Kong and is a cat and mouse game between a mastermind of a thief and the HK Police’s surveillance department.

The film starts with the master thief overseeing his team execute a heist while the senior officer of the surveillance team is testing out a new officer on her final test to make it to the elite force. The heist is a success but the boss isn’t happy for his team members don’t seem to adhere the strict regime that thieves need to in order to keep one step ahead of the cops. His biggest fear of the cops catching on comes true when a surveillance camera catches a split second image of one of the members and from that point onwards the cops are on to the gang like bees making love to a flower in full bloom.

The young woman is selected to join the task force and on the very first day of her job manages to track the man, codename: Fatman, the same who was caught on camera. The entire film form that point onwards is how different professionals- a new rookie, a master thief and an experienced cop- battle the situation and insecurities to stay on the job. The film ends with the rookie cop proving her mettle, something which was expected but still Eye In The Sky has its moments. One would have expected a little more interplay between various tools of surveillance and a little jazzier editing but that’s not the real issue with the film.

Considering that it’s a modern film and has an age old but interesting premise, the lack of style becomes more evident for the story doesn’t really have layers. What we have at the end of the day is a very wafer thin plot and thinner characters who really don’t have anything remotely interesting to do. There are nattily done set pieces but that’s just about it. The one interesting action sequence on a deserted expressway is left midday and we don’t know why that happens. Nai-Hoi Yau directs the film and features Wong Kar Wai regular Tony Cheung as the master thief accompanied by Simon Yam as the older cop while Kate Tsui is the rookie.

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