Surrogates – Movie Review

Surrogates is a decent enough sci-fi/action vehicle, except insofar as it doesn't have the level of internal sensibility necessary to realize that "action" shouldn't be something you're forced to mention.

Based on a graphic novel, Surrogates is a story that takes place several years in the future (but not as many as you might think), and a revolution in technological advancement has made it possible for people to go through their daily lives... well, in robots... sort of. Resting in a chair in their homes, and wired up to a vast array of computer equipment, a person then controls a robotic humanoid that serves as the person and goes about life. The person hooked up to the computer experiences everything just as they normally would... basically.

As we enter the picture, the human race has been divided into two camps. Those who use surrogates, which is most everyone, and small bands of anti-surrogate people who live on reservations with no machines of any kind.

We enter the story by witnessing what turns out to be a murder, and no ordinary one at that. First off, violent crime in the lands of the surrogates is nearly unheard of, mainly because it's rather difficult to figure out what the point would be. More importantly, the real issue isn't that the surrogates were "deactivated," but the users were killed because of what happened to their surrogates. Now it's up to FBI agent Tom Greer (Willis) to solve the crime, but he's got to do it without causing a panic.

Greer soon finds that there's a lot more behind this than a simple murder, and before he can even get his bearings, it turns out that there's simply no telling how big this mystery really is, or who might be involved.

In the more interesting, and somewhat diluted part of the story, Greer finds himself without his surrogate, and is having a lot of trouble minding. Even before he loses his surrogate, Greer is becoming bothered by the fact that he hasn't seen his wife in the flesh for longer than he can remember.

While a passable action thought-provoker, Surrogates best moments come by way of the examination of the human condition, which one must assume get far more play in the graphic novel (because they made it into the movie at all). The mystery and conspiracy is a decent ride, and isn't overplayed too far, but it isn't especially outside the normal course of action/suspense, and while I don't think it will disappoint terribly, the subtler, less pedestrian version of the film might have been a masterpiece.

An obvious play on the repercussions of the online generation's avatar addiction, the play of the thing is a much brainier affair than the film itself seems to believe, and that comes from what it is possible to ferret out of what we do get. Had the movie managed the nerve to focus on the strange social conditions that arise, and were it put together by those adroit enough to really work a story built on conversations rather than unnecessary action sequences, Surrogates would at the very least have managed an instant cult status, and would probably have been showered with glowing reviews.

As only a small example of the possibilities, we are witness to the curious development of social norms which result in a husband standing hesitantly outside his wife's room. We've moved to the point where there is a truly bizarre removal of the self from society, and Greer is as stuck at his wife's door as an online gamer contemplating the suggestion of a real life meeting. More delicious still is the line delivered via surrogate, "the only reason I've been able to get up in the morning and go out of the house...," which is wonderfully passed over as quickly as it is uttered.

One can only be so disappointed however, because going in you knew Jonathan Mostow was directing. If U-571, Terminator 3, and TV's Them, didn't let you in on where things were liable to go, and what abilities were behind things... well, he's got precious little else to choose from. Perhaps fine enough treatments in their own right, for what they are, they are not the films of someone who can explore a concept that is, let's face it, pretty silly if it goes wrong.

On the other hand, it is left rather open for debate whether Bruce Willis would have done justice to the version I'd have liked to have seen. He works well here, but is that because of the slapdash through the meatier angles, or despite it? Who knows.

All that said, the film is solidly above-average for what it turns out to be, which is a pretty fun action movie that gets more bogged down in effects and crashes than you'd hope, but not as much as you fear. It's a good time that isn't likely to disappoint, and I have to call it a good choice for the weekend festivities. I can't tell you that you have to rush out, but if you're there anyway, this is probably the one to pick. At the very least, don't miss it when it comes to your home.

On a final note, whatever else you might say about it, Surrogates ends well (I suspect just as the graphic novel ends), and it's an ending that I can't imagine tested well, and there it is anyway. Kudos on that score.

Rating:  

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About Marc Eastman

Marc Eastman is the owner and operator of Are You Screening? and has been writing film reviews for over a decade, and several branches of the internet's film review world have seen his name. His reviews have brought him personal praise from the director of a major motion picture, and have been used as required reading in a course at a major University. These priceless rewards, along with just bags of cash, keep him from straying from freelance writing. He is also a member of The Broadcast Film Critics Association and The Broadcast Television Journalists Association.

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