10 Great Films That Already Flew Under The Radar In 2016
9. Eye In The Sky
While the disappointing sequel to Tim Burton's Alice In Wonderland featured his voice as Absolem the Blue Caterpillar, Alan Rickman's last actual performance was in British war thriller Eye in the Sky. The late, great Rickman starred alongside Helen Mirren, Aaron Paul and Captain Phillips' Barkhad Abdi in a film about military personnel facing the legal and ethical dilemmas presented by modern drone warfare.
The plot follows Colonel Katherine Powell (Helen Mirren) as she attempts to target members of the Al-Shabab terrorist group, who recently murdered her friend and colleague. Her superior officer Lieutenant General Frank Benson (Alan Rickman) tries to get permission from the government to carry out the strike, though conflicting legal and political views along with the negative publicity of potentially killing civilians delays the retaliation.
In the end, arms are twisted and permission is granted, but not before director Gavin Hood introduces us to the civilians who will likely be killed by the strike. The transition from the war room to the battle field is intentionally jarring, with Hood declining to nudge us toward either side in terms of right and wrong.
This is a tautly executed thriller that does little to glorify military service, concentrating only on the state of modern warfare and the morality of long-distance war.