So it is a pleasant surprise to report that Surrogates (for the most part) gets the idea side of things right.
Set
in one of those futures that is exactly like now apart from one big
difference... the big difference here is that 98% of the population
stays at home while surrogates (mind controlled robot versions of
themselves) go around doing all the messy human stuff.
On the surface it is a crazy idea.
Sure, the surrogates look pretty hot (and there is a running joke that
everytime we see the real person behind a surrogate they are a scruffy
slob), but would people really stop doing everything?
It
helps a huge amount when everytime someone says "surrogate" you think
"the internet", because as heavy handed metaphors for real-world
situations go this one is actually pretty slick. Unfortunately the
story itself isn't quite so good.
FBI agent Tom (Bruce Willis,
initially as a taller, plastic looking surrogate and then as his
scruffy self) investigates a murder whereby someone has figured out how
to kill not only surrogates but the person using it as well.
Worse,
the dead guy is the son of the inventor of surrogates (James Cromwell,
who is clearly Hollywood's go-to guy for hi-tech inventor types) and
maybe it was an attempt on his life.
Meanwhile the tiny minority
of un-surrogated humans lead by The Prophet (Ving Rhames) are stirring
up trouble of their own, the military says they have no idea how anyone
could have built a weapon that killed surrogates and their users, some
of the FBI agents are looking shifty and then things start to get
really complicated.
In fact, a little too complicated to follow without a flowchart.
It
is a shame that the plot lets this down because a lot of the ides here
are actually pretty well thought-out (the way the weapon kills both
humans and surrogates actually makes sense, which is a first) and there
are a couple of moments where the idea of surrogates is used in a way
that is both surprising and perfectly logical.
And while
part of the climax turns out to be one of those bizarre "thrilling"
endings that revolve around someone having to press the right button,
what better way to end a movie that is basically all about the internet?
DVD Special Features
DVD Extras are pretty limp here, especially when you consider how
much cool technology must have gone into making everyone's surrogate
look like Joan Rivers. There's no accounting for taste...
Special Features include being able to view Surrogates
with Audio Commentary by Director Jonathan Mostow as well as
a Music Video by Breaking Benjamin called "I Will Not Bow". It is
not a good song... at all.
Conclusion:
Movie 70% Extras: 30%
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