Surrogates Summary:Maybe it’s asking too much to expect a science fiction thriller, based on a popular graphic novel, to have a lot of depth and complexity. In all fairness, I am not familiar with the graphic novel “The Surrogates,” written and illustrated by Robert Venditti and Brett Weldele, respectively. However, after watching Hollywood’s take on the futuristic utopian world of robotic surrogates in “Surrogates,” I am even less inclined now to read through the illustrated book, no matter how visually appealing it is or how boldly it explores philosophical and ethical concepts.
Bruce Willis is a fun actor to watch, even if he’s getting a bit long in the tooth for action heroics. One thing “Surrogates” has going for it is that Willis’ central character of FBI Agent Greer, when forced to emerge from behind his robotic clone, is far more realistic than his hardened role in the “Die Hard” movies.
Instead, we get a vulnerable action hero, one who can and does end up on the losing end of a fistfight. Perhaps it’s due more to the fact that he’s surrounded by robots, but Willis in the flesh delivers some believable emotion. On the other hand, he’s extremely bland, naturally, in his robotic form.
In the so-called idyllic world of “Surrogates,” the fact that humans have, for the most part, volunteered to become couch potatoes so that they can run their lives through their idealized clone is a troubling thought. Even more disturbing is seeing Willis’ Agent Greer first appear in his robot form, free of wrinkles and sporting the kind of bad wig that makes him look like a creepy pervert. The foundations of this New World Order are shaken by a flesh-and-blood human who murders one of the clones outside of a nightclub.
The murder becomes more spectacular when it is apparent that the victim is the son of reclusive billionaire Dr. Canter (James Cromwell), the inventor of the surrogate population who has been forced out of his position as chairman of the mega-corporation that produces the robots. The death is a public relations nightmare because the surrogates are advertised as a risk-free way to go through life. In this case, the actual person behind the surrogate is also killed, thus belying the notion of invincibility.
Teamed up with beautiful fellow agent Peters (Radha Mitchell), Greer is charged with investigating the murder, and since it appears to be the first murder in their utopian society, this heinous act triggers questions about the ethics of surrogate technology and the future of society.
For his part, Greer is already suffering emotional conflicts, having lost his young son in an auto accident and not having any real human interaction with his wife Maggie (Rosamund Pike), who hides behind the perfection of a flawlessly beautiful clone, for reasons apparent only later.
As a science-fiction thriller interested in social commentary, “Surrogates” raises some interesting questions only to discard them almost as quickly. The brave new technology was approved by a narrow Supreme Court decision, but we have no idea of the issues before the justices.
The few humans who form a resistance live in a guarded encampment, worse than a bombed-out South Bronx ghetto, but how they survive in a world isolated by the robots is a big question. How did a bearded Rastafarian named the Prophet (Ving Rhames) become their leader? And just who is that overweight guy sitting in the massive control room and what’s his agenda?
In the end, there’s a shortage of logic, as well as serious drama, to “Surrogates.” The missing link, so to speak, is the underlying premise that nearly everyone finds it appealing to experience work, life’s daily ups and downs, and all forms of pleasure vicariously through their robotic clones. Isn’t it bad enough that so many of us spend entire workdays lashed to an unloving, uncaring computer in a quest to get the job done?
“Surrogates” succeeds at rendering a promising idea into something lame, rather insipid and ultimately unsatisfying.
Release Date: September 25, 2009
Studio: Touchstone Pictures (Disney)
Director: Jonathan Mostow
Screenwriter: John Brancato, Michael Ferris
Starring: Bruce Willis, Radha Mitchell, Rosamund Pike, Boris Kodjoe, James Francis Ginty, Michael Cudlitz, James Cromwell, Ving Rhames
Genre: Action, Thriller
MPAA Rating: PG-13 (for intense sequences of violence, disturbing images, language, sexuality and a drug-related scene)
Official Website: ChooseYourSurrogate.com
Review: 7.5/10 rating | 6/10 rating | 5/10 rating
DVD Review: Not Available
DVD: Not Available
