Surrogates

Review by Anthony Morris

There is a certain kind of mid-level science fiction movie like Surrogates that is always a bit of a gamble to check out.

This is mostly because without a Transformers-sized budget the film-makers are forced to rely on the ideas and the plot to provide the thrills. 

And already you see the problem. Whenever anyone lists the upside of Hollywood films, ideas and plotting don't usually make the cut.

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?

3 out of 5

Surrogates
Australian release: 24th September, 2009
Official Site: Surrogates
Cast: Bruce Willis, Ving Rhames, Rosamund Pike, James Cromwell, Radha Mitchell
Director: Jonathan Mostow