From the first few minutes of the film, introducing us to Jerry Shaw (Shia LaBeouf) and Rachael Holloman (Michelle Monaghan), we see a connection on the big screen. Not necessarily between the two of them but between the viewer and them. You actually start to care for these two strangers very quickly. You want to know what is happening, who their family is and most of all what their story is. Then all of a sudden the ride starts and doesn’t end for another hour and a half. This thrill ride follows two ordinary folks, or so it seems, through a maze of calculated steps to achieve an end goal of extraordinary measures.
The United States armed forces have a lead on a suspected terrorist in the Middle East, but as the man is a recluse, getting a positive ID proves difficult, and the DOD's computer system recommends that the mission be aborted. The Secretary of Defense (Michael Chiklis) agrees with the abort recommendation, but the President orders the mission be carried out anyway. This turns into a political backlash when all those killed turn out to be civilians, and retaliatory bombings are carried out in response.
Jerry Shaw (Shia LaBeouf) lacks direction and faces financial difficulty. He finds out his twin brother Ethan, an Air Force lieutenant, is dead.
| Following the funeral in January 2009, he goes to withdraw some money from an ATM and is surprised to see that he has $751,000 in his account. |  |
When he returns home, he finds his apartment filled with a large amount of weapons, explosives, and forged documents. He receives a phone call from an unknown woman, who explains that the FBI is about to apprehend him in thirty seconds and that he must escape.
Not believing her, he is caught by the FBI, and is sent to an interrogation room where he meets Special Agent Thomas Morgan (Billy Bob Thornton). When Morgan leaves the room to meet with Air Force Office of Special Investigations Special Agent Zoe Perez (Rosario Dawson), the unknown woman arranges Jerry's escape over a phone and has him join up with single mother Rachel Holloman (Michelle Monaghan). Rachel is being coerced by the unknown woman into assisting Jerry, by threatening to kill her son, Sam, a trumpet player on his way to Washington, D.C. from Chicago for a band recital.
 | The woman helps the pair to avoid the Chicago Police and FBI units, demonstrating the ability to remotely control virtually any networked device, such as traffic lights, cell phones, and even automated cranes. While Jerry and Rachel follow her instructions, the woman, has other 'agents' have a crystal explosive made into a necklace and its sound-based trigger placed inside Sam's trumpet. Jerry and Rachel are led from Chicago to Washington, D.C. via Indianapolis and Dayton through various means. They reach an electronics store to which the woman directs them. Over several televisions she introduces herself to them: she is a top secret supercomputer called "Autonomous Reconnaissance Intelligence Integration Analyst" referred to as Ariia tasked with gathering intelligence from all over the world. Ariia can control virtually anything electronic and has been monitoring both their lives and brought both Jerry and Rachel to her. |
| In light of the mistake made by the President at the beginning of the film, Ariia has decided that the executive branch is a threat to the public good and must be eliminated. Ariia plans to destroy the President's cabinet, and calls this Operation Guillotine. It has decided to leave the Secretary of Defense, who agreed with its recommendation to abort the mission, as the successor to the presidency. She does not reveal this to Jerry or Rachel, merely explaining that she is trying to help the people of the United StatesAt the Pentagon, where Ariia is housed, Agent Perez discovers that Ethan worked as a technician for the computer and locked it down to prevent Ariia from carrying out her plan. Perez warns the Secretary of Defense and they discuss the situation in a sealed room to prevent Ariia from hearing their conversation. Jerry and Rachel arrive at the Pentagon and are led to the supercomputer, where Ariia forces Jerry to impersonate Ethan and use an override code allowing her to go ahead with the plan. |  |
 | Jerry observes CCTV footage displaying Ethan's fatal car crash (due to sabotaged traffic lights), realizing Ariia orchestrated Ethan's death since his twin could have stopped her. She then instructs Rachel to eliminate Jerry to prevent the lock from being reinstated, but Rachel cannot bring herself to do it. Rachel is led out of the building by Ariia while Jerry is caught by Agent Morgan. Having been warned by Agent Perez, Morgan believes Jerry's story and takes him to the United States Capitol. On their way, however, Ariia sends an MQ-9 Reaper UCAV after them. Agent Morgan sacrifices himself to destroy the craft and save Jerry. |
| Meanwhile, Agent Perez returns to the supercomputer and is successful in destroying it (by smashing her CPU), but not before Ariia uploads 27% of its memory to another location. Rachel is unknowingly given the explosive necklace by a corrupt official and sent to watch the President's speech. Sam's class, whose recital has been moved from the Kennedy Center to the Capitol for the President's State of the Union Address, begins to play. |  |
 | The trigger that will set off the explosive necklace is set to activate when Sam plays a high F on his trumpet corresponding to the word "free" in the last stanza of the U.S. national anthem. Jerry successfully infiltrates the vicinity dressed as a Capitol policeman and fires his pistol into the air, stopping the performance and emptying the room just as Sam starts to play the note. Jerry is then shot several times by a Secret Service agent, who is unaware of the reason for Jerry's actions. In the aftermath of the chaos Ariia caused, the Secretary of Defense urges that another supercomputer should not be built. Ethan posthumously receives the Medal of Honor while Jerry, injured but alive and well, receives the Congressional Gold Medal. The film ends with Jerry attending Sam's birthday party. Rachel thanks him for attending and kisses him on the cheek. She then tells Jerry that she's glad he's there. He then responds, "Me too." |
Overall I would recommend this thriller movie to almost anyone, short of folks who are stupid enough to bring their young children to any movie. The action is non stop, the intelligence is believable and the world we live in just got creepier as the computer ‘Ariia’ can control almost everything like changing the traffic lights, calculating the speed Jerry and Rachael must drive. With a twist of fate, the two each receive a phone call from a woman with very explicit instructions to follow. This is when the action becomes so intense I thought my fingers lost circulation from holding onto one another so tight. Hence it is interesting to see how the computer plays with the lives of two people. It is quite an interesting plot as it is about a new futuristic topic thus grabs the people’s attention. Although this movie received 3 stars, I think this is the best movie I have watched so far. This movie will do well and I promise you, the movie will be worth price of admission. The direction from Caruso was great if you ask me. The way the camera moves and the acting by Shia LaBeouf and Michelle Monahgan made me believe that I was part of their crazy thrill ride.
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