Surrogates - Now on DVD

As a matter of practice, I try and stay away from movies that take the fast track to bargain bins.  Who doesn't?  It's not like anything good comes from a track record that includes Home Alone: Taking Back the House or Ace Ventura Jr.  That's why I surprised even myself when I rented Bruce Willis' Surrogates, which lasted in theaters mere days.  I don't know why, but I felt compelled to watch it - I think it was something about the summer ad campaign that surrounded the Sept. 2009 release.  For better or worse, I do have a hankering for the "robots overtaking the world" genre.

In this take on the genre, the human race has traded in living life for ourselves with living it through human-like robots, called surrogates, designed to take our place in the world.  The seller?  Live life the way you always wanted to, with no anxiety, risk or danger.  Added benefits?  Crime and homicide rates tumble, inexplicably, and you have the ability look the way you always wanted to.  Not born with the pretty gene?  Stop crying in the mirror and just live life through your purchased Abercrombie model surrogate.  (Personally, if this existed in the real world I'd live off Burger King, gain 300 lbs., live in airy, comfortable moo moos and have an exercise routine that consists of walking to and from the bed to the bathroom.  What?  Don't judge.  It's not like you'd be able to tell the difference from my surrogate anyway.)

Whatever you want in life, just sit back and relax in your bed as your surrogate does the work for you.  But what happens when surrogate users start being murdered and we realize we've become too plugged in and  complacent in letting technology do all our living for us?  To anyone reading this on your blackberry or iPhone...they're talking about you!

The basic premise of Surrogates makes this a highly entertaining and original movie.  Several smart decisions were made throughout, the biggest being it's fast pace and relative shortness, at barely 90 minutes.  I didn't know anyone outside Disney or DreamWorks even made movies that length anymore.  But this works to the movie's advantage.  With less lull time to poke obvious holes through the plot, you tend to just go along for a fun ride and let flaws slide by.

Bruce Willis cast as the detective on the hunt for a killer and stumbling upon a global conspiracy gives the movie a feeling of Die Hard meets I, Robot.  Warning, if you don't like either movie, Surrogates doesn't stand a chance for you.  But while it doesn't require any Oscar quality acting, the movie benefits from Willis' veteran presence.  On the converse side, with some of the other actors it's hard to determine whether they're trying to act like robots, or are just having trouble acting.  Admittedly the movie pushes the plausibility envelope on more than one occasion, but it's grounded just enough from falling over the brink into a vat of cheese.  Unless Steve Jobs has the iHuman in the works that we're unaware of.  The bigger picture is obviously an anti-technology spin, rather than believing the world could actually get to this point...although it seems you should never give humanity that much credit.

With its peaks and valleys, Surrogates sometimes borders on campy, suffering a bit by succumbing to formulaic traps.  It doesn't take a Sherlock Holmes to be able to beat the movie to the punch in what should be shocking revelations and plot twists (though if you're like me you'll take pride in being able to do so).  And don't expect a Shakespearean mastery of the English language, with some rocky dialogue that borders on cheap porn writing.  Not to mention that at times it's obvious a producer holding purse strings tried to go the cheap route with laughable special effects that belong back in the early 90's.  Seriously, you're not convincing anyone that you're actually on the roof of that car.  Though not breaking any cinematography boundaries, it's worth noting there's still some fun camera work employed here.

The top critics were mixed in their reviews and if you think too much about this movie, it'll fall apart quickly.  But if you just want to unplug from reality, no pun intended, and enjoy a decent action movie I think you'll find this entertaining.  If nothing else it's an original take on the 21st century question of technology taking over our everyday lives, and there's something to be said for that.  Think about it - how much less human interaction do you have thanks to technology?  I may not have a surrogate, but I'm communicating to all you readers via this computer - so who's to say I'm not wearing a moo moo right now?  BREW&VIEW IT! 

For your movie rental consideration, check out the trailer.