Surrogates - Thoughts

I saw the trailer for Surrogates and figured that it should be a decent blockbuster action flick, with a nice futuristic sci-fi premise. Though I wasn’t in a rush to see it, it was on my list of movies to watch. I finally got around to renting the DVD and watching the movie a couple of weeks ago. Surrogates proposes a future where human beings live in the safety of their homes, while they interact with the outside world by means of android surrogates. A police officer is forced to leave the comfort of his home and the security of his surrogate to investigate the mysterious murder of other surrogates. 

After a short run time of under an hour and a half, Surrogates left me with a feeling of being superficial and weak. While the narrative does indeed present a superficial plastic world, where the real people live indoors, and out of circulation, this plasticy presence transcends the plot, making the overall presentation feel wafer thin. Several of the scenes and the androids themselves reminded me of iRobot, but that similarity aside, the narratives were quite different. While there was a crime/mystery to be solved, and the process did involve some action, the potency of the plot was far from rewarding. Surrogates is worth checking out if you either absolutely love Sci-fi or Bruce Willis movies. That said, even for sci-fi action fans, I do believe that expectations are higher, especially with the bar being set as high by other movies.

Bruce Willis plays the lead role of Tom Greer, who is the police officer investigating the Surrogate murders. He suits the role well, as his age and personality come through, once his surrogate is out of the way, exposing his human flawed self. His pursuit and drive to solve the mystery is similar to that of his roles in other action crime dramas. Radha Mitchell plays his associate Peters, who for the bulk of the movie is visible to the audience only through her surrogate. While I’ve seen her in much more complex roles, her role here as Peters was quite forgettable. Rosamund Pike plays Tom Greer’s wife, Maggie Greer. Her performance is pretty good, showing us the stylish well made up surrogate face most of the time, while still exuding sufficient emotion.

The DVD I was sampling was a Region 1 US DVD release. Video was clear and favored warm tones for most part; yellows and brown tones being obviously noticeable.  To complement the premise of the movie, the visuals look plasticy and superficial; possibly by means of post-production filters.  Sound was presented by means of a Dolby Digital 5.1 surround soundtrack. Dialog delivery was sufficient, and so were sound effects and general ambience. Surround stage usage was minimal but sufficient.

My Recommendation: Dicey (A shallow portrayal of a fake future)