Surrogates (2009)

Surrogates is a science fiction flick based on a comic book series published a few years ago. It stars Bruce Willis as Agent Tom Greer, and is directed by Jonathan Mostow. The film maintains a largely Dicksian atmosphere, so if you've seen Paycheck, Impostor, Minority Report or Blade Runner (all film adaptations of Philip K. Dick stories), well...this is about as good as the first two on that list.

***MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD***

In Surrogates, people have forsaken the flesh and blood of their daily existence, choosing to remotely control android versions of themselves to handle their day to day affairs, jobs, etc. Naturally, people choose either paint-brush versions of themselves or fantasy selves (different sex, race, and so forth) to live out their lives. This is of course a nice speculative jab at our own fashion-centric, Bravo/E! television obsessed pathetic lives, and it does speak mirrors of the current Westernized climate of the world, like most good science fiction. Unfortunately, the premise is just too absurd to believe, and technology is unlikely to move in such a direction. For example, why send two surrogates to a physical meeting when we can communicate instantly via video, cellphone, or at the least text messaging/email. These are the true stepchildren of human laziness and convenience, so an entire industry to manufacture cybernetically controlled android bodies is improbable.

The use of surrogates has had its benefits, of course. Less crime, less spread of disease, even wars are fought out by soldiers safely hidden in control centers while they remote control infantry (which is also unlikely, since we'd be more apt to just directly control drone fighter jets, tanks, etc...foot soldiers would be absolutely useless in such a world). However, as in most of these films, there is a conspiracy afoot to end this new way of life, and Agent Greer is thrown into the midst to solve it. Rather than entirely spoil this review, I'll leave the plot at that. There's not much more to it.

Willis is his usual self as Greer, supported by Radha Mitchell as his partner Agent Peters, Rosamund Pike as his wife Maggie, and Ving Rhames as 'The Prophet', the leader of the 'dreads', or rather, humans who live in gated reservations where no surrogates are allowed. The acting is fine all around, though none of the roles in the film are challenging. The score is rather bland and the effects are much as you'd expect. It's interesting to explore this new world, and I did like that the surrogate bodies were not invincible. They can jump and take some damage, but a decent shotgun blast and it's time to buy a new one.

The film tries to build a disconnect (no pun intended) between Greer and this proxy-obsessed environment as he slowly awakens to the value of his physical humanity. There are a few effective scenes, like where he beats one of his wife's friend's surrogates in his apartment, but the film could have gone a lot further with the humanity vs. surrogates concept. Much of the story is a predictable cut and dry mystery/drama with a few bursts of action that do little to stir the pot. Of course, the entire premise is self-defeating: Bruce Willis, Rosamund Pike and Radha Mitchell are all beautiful people already, so it's hard to take them seriously as needing alternate versions of themselves which look much the same ('real' Bruce is better looking than his surrogate, if less clean cut).

I like films that speculate about our flaws and dystopian futures that exploit them. The message behind Surrogates is a good one, and not too preachy: we have flaws that make us all who we are, whether physical or emotional, and they should be celebrated rather than smothered by rampant peer pressure and vanity. Unfortunately, the movie itself is not quite on par with this message, and it's not as if people in this country are going to watch this parade of beautiful people and feel anything but loathing for themselves. I think an aluminum bat to the head is a superior wake up call.

Verdict: Indifference [5.5/10]

http://chooseyoursurrogate.com/